Mother charged with murder of son in Kópavogur, Iceland

A court hearing commenced today in a case involving a mother charged with the murder of her six-year-old son. She also faces charges of attempted murder against her older son. The proceedings are closed to the media.

The boy was found deceased in the family’s home in Kópavogur at the end of January, where he lived with his mother and eleven-year-old brother. Their father resided elsewhere. The mother was arrested at the scene and has been in custody since the incident. During the indictment hearing at the Reykjanes District Court in May, she admitted to the charges but claimed she was not criminally responsible at the time of the act.

It is alleged that the mother placed a pillow over her younger son’s face while he was asleep on the couch. She reportedly applied pressure with both hands on his face and neck, releasing her grip only once she realized he was dead. Following this, she entered the bedroom where her older son was sleeping face down and covered his face with one hand while using the other to press down on his neck, preventing him from breathing. The older boy woke up during the attack, managed to free himself, and fled the home.

The family, originally from Iraq, has been in Iceland for approximately four years under international protection. The boy’s legal guardian demands that the mother be ordered to pay ten million Icelandic krónur in compensation, while the boys’ father is seeking eight million krónur from her.