Care worker convicted of manslaughter – appeal trial rules against defendant
A former care worker has been sentenced again by the Erfurt Regional Court to four years and ten months in youth detention for manslaughter. He is alleged to have strangled a 93-year-old resident in 2024.
Confirmation of verdict in second trial
The Erfurt Regional Court has again sentenced a former care worker to four years and ten months in youth detention for manslaughter. The man is alleged to have strangled or asphyxiated a bedridden and dementia-affected 93-year-old resident of a care home in Gotha whilst on duty in July 2024. The verdict is not yet final.
The defendant, who was 19 at the time of the alleged offence, denied the charges in this second trial as well. His defence lawyer argued in her closing statement that her client had been wrongfully convicted. The young man himself made clear to the presiding judge Anja Biermann that he believed himself to be innocent. In his final statement, however, he did not elaborate on the basis for this conviction.
The charges and evidence
According to the first judgment from October 2025, the defendant is alleged to have killed the 93-year-old by applying pressure to her neck during a brief period in which he was alone with her in her room. An examination of the body revealed traces of violence on the woman's neck. A possible motive for the act remained unclear – there were no new findings on this point in this trial either.
The public prosecutor had called for four years and ten months in youth detention in his closing statement. The defence lawyer, by contrast, demanded only two years, to be suspended on probation. She questioned whether a longer stay in a youth detention facility would benefit her client's future prospects.
Discussion on sentencing
The presiding judge Biermann, however, emphasised during the trial that a youth detention facility also offered opportunities – for example, the possibility of beginning an apprenticeship there. The 22-year-old, who lives with his parents and is currently unemployed, had stated that he had been unsuccessfully seeking employment for some time and would like to complete an apprenticeship as a warehouse worker.
All parties agreed that the man should be punished under juvenile criminal law on account of his development, life situation, and his age at the time of the alleged offence.
The second trial had been necessary because the defendant had appealed against the first judgment. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) confirmed the guilty verdict but ordered that a different juvenile chamber of the Regional Court should clarify anew the question of sentencing and the consideration of an earlier judgment from the district court. According to n-tv, the court has now completed this task.
Source: n-tv