Elena Anghel pleads guilty to killing five-year-old grandson in Coventry

A woman has admitted killing her five-year-old grandson who was found with fatal stab wounds in Coventry.

Elena Anghel today (Tuesday, June 20) pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of David Mario Lazar on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

David Mario – who was known as Mario - was found with serious injuries at an address in Poplar Road, Earlsdon, on 25 January last year. Sadly, nothing could be done to save him. Anghel, aged 51, appeared before Leamington Justice Centre where she was given an indefinite hospital order under the Mental Health Act.

The court heard Romanian national Anghel arrived in the UK in May 2021 to join her daughter, son-in-law and grandson.

Medical records revealed she had been hospitalised on eight occasions in the ten years leading up to Mario’s death and suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.

Mario died from a stab wound at his home in Earlsdon on January 25, 2022, in what prosecutors told the court was a “sustained sharp force assault”.

Anghel had been caring for him after school while his parents were at work. The court heard she suddenly attacked him in the kitchen with a knife.

Prosecutor Chris Tehrani KC said after the killing, Anghel ran to a nearby Co–op supermarket, slapping her face and shouting “police!”

He said: “The defendant walked to the Co-op store on the corner. She speaks very little English. She went to the till area.

“She was distressed. She was slapping her face. She appeared to be repeating the words ‘police’.

“The CCTV recording from the store records sound. ‘Police, police, police’ there’s mention of Mario’s father and baby amongst other things.

“The recording finishes with the words ‘my baby, my daughter’. She said that he had killed her grandson so that he would not suffer any more serious assaults at the hands of a family member.

“These claims are false. The defendant accepts they are false. The delusions are as a consequence of the defendant’s mental health. The defendant did say she’d done what she’d done to Mario out of love because ‘I love him very much’ and that it would be better if he died there than continue to suffer.”

“Officers entered the property, the horror of what had happened at the property became evident.

“They noticed a large amount of blood in the kitchen area and a knife on the floor. “The knife that had been seen on the floor had a black handle. The bladed part of the weapon is tapered.

“Mario’s blood was uncovered from the knife and an item of clothing worn by the defendant.”

Anghel’s barrister, Caroline Haughey KC, said she believed the mafia were out to get her grandson.

West Midlands Police statement

Detective Inspector Laura Harrison, from the homicide unit, said: “This is a really tragic case where a young boy lost his life.

“Our thoughts, as always, remain with Mario’s family and all those who knew him.”