Each grandparent tried to pin the blame for their baby grandson's death on the other.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on April 14, 2022. It has since been updated.
Trigger Warning: This article contains graphic details that readers may find distressing.
A recent bizarre and heartwrenching case involved a pair of grandparents murdering their 11-month-old grandchild. Why? Because the baby wouldn't stop crying. Alexander Miyagashev, 48, and his wife Zhanna Miyagasheva, 43, were both found guilty of the brutal murder of their daughter's baby boy, Maxim Sagalakov. Twenty-one-year-old Viktoria Sagalakova had left her infant boy Maxim in the care of her parents in Kharoy village in Russia's Khakassia region. She never expected her parents to be capable of such an atrocity.
Grandparents are jailed for incinerating their 11-month-old grandson in a wood-burning stove https://t.co/iIkZum46Zv
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) January 31, 2020
When she returned home, she found the boy's burned remains inside the stove of her own family's house. According to the Daily Mail, Maxim had been crying profusely which irritated his grandmother Zhanna, who was also allegedly drunk at the time. She then "started to suffocate the boy until he was silent." Afterward, the boy's grandfather, Alexander took him, who was barely alive at the time, and put him on the stove, burning him to death. A devastated Viktoria took to social media to pay tribute to her baby boy where she wrote: Rest in peace, my beloved son. My dear little son. My pain does not ease even for a minute. How will I cope with it that you are not with me? I can't hug you. Only your photograph is here with your kind and tender look. I look at your picture and you are smiling to me. I miss you so much, my son. Please come to see me just for one second. Come to see me in my dreams. I know that you see everything now because you are flying so high.
The court heard that the grandfather had apparently previously burned alive puppies and a cat. Both the grandparents blamed each other for the baby's death. "I was heavily asleep," the grandmother said. "How could I do this to my beloved grandson? People say 'grandchildren are sweeter than children'. The last time I saw him, he was alive and well..." "Your Honor, I did not kill. She killed," Alexander retorted. "I smoked, went to sleep, then went to the toilet. She told me: 'I killed our grandson.'" Each grandparent tried to pin the blame for their baby grandson's death on the other.
Senior prosecutor Maxim Rodionov affirmed that the forensic analysis which took place had "reliably established that the death of the child occurred precisely because of the actions of Alexander Miyagashev since he placed him in the furnace and burned the boy." The child had died due to "100 percent burns to the body" and carbon monoxide poisoning. Both grandparents were charged with Alexander getting a 15-year sentence in a strict regime jail while Zhanna was charged with nine years of imprisonment. While sentencing the couple, judge Viktor Galimov pointed out that "the forensic expert explained that before being placed in the stove the child had a heartbeat."
Oh my god, they know what to expect with a 11 month old. They had child on their own. I thought grand parents are very safe than mom, dad. They are old, mature, patience enough. They are made to pamper grand kids. In fact they have all rights to spoil the kid with love 😓RIP dear
— Sandy (@Sandhia21) January 31, 2020
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Representational Cover Image Source: Getty Images | South_agency
