Life Sentence for Social Worker After Fatal Attack on Teenage Girl Near Göttingen
A district court in Göttingen has sentenced a 24-year-old social worker to life imprisonment for the murder of a 15-year-old girl in a wooded area south of the city. The court determined that the offender, who previously worked as a youth counselor, meticulously planned the killing and executed it with deliberate intent.
According to the court's findings, the crime occurred after the perpetrator arranged to meet the teenager, Maya K., on the evening of June 29, 2025. The two traveled by car to the Reinhäuser Forest in the municipality of Gleichen, Lower Saxony. Once there, the social worker incapacitated the girl by secretly administering eye drops mixed into an energy drink. After the victim became disoriented, she was struck with a stone and sustained multiple injuries, including wounds to her arms and more than twenty stab wounds to her hips and thighs. Evidence presented in court showed that these injuries led the victim to bleed to death around midnight. The body was discovered the next morning by a passerby.
Investigations revealed that the victim and the perpetrator had previously been acquainted through a youth welfare facility, where Maya K. had been temporarily placed. However, the motive for the crime was traced not to circumstances within the youth home, but rather to the perpetrator's personal disputes involving a former partner. The court concluded that the social worker intended to gain access to the teenager's mobile phone, with the alleged aim of sending messages in the victim's name to influence her own relationship situation.
Following the discovery of the body, authorities quickly identified and arrested the perpetrator, who resided in a neighboring community. She remained in pretrial detention throughout the proceedings. During the trial, the accused admitted responsibility for the girl's death but denied that the act was premeditated. Nonetheless, the court found sufficient evidence to classify the killing as murder committed with base motives and in a particularly insidious manner.
The prosecution had called for a life sentence, emphasizing the calculated nature of the crime. The victim's family, represented by a legal team, also requested recognition of the severity of guilt. The defense, however, argued that the case should be treated as negligent homicide, seeking a significantly reduced sentence. Ultimately, the court sided with the prosecution, delivering a verdict of life imprisonment. The judgment is not yet final and may be subject to appeal.