Case against suspects charged with the murder of Danka Ilić sent to the Court of Appeal in Niš

The court had previously upheld the indictment against D.D. and S.J., who are charged with aggravated murder, while at the same time dismissing the charges and terminating the criminal proceedings against R.D., D.D.'s father, who had been suspected of helping his son conceal the girl's body.

The Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Zaječar appealed that decision, and the Court of Appeal in Niš will now rule on the appeal, the Higher Court in Negotin told Tanjug.

The defence lawyers for the accused did not appeal the Higher Court's decision.

Earlier in the proceedings, the Court of Appeal in Niš upheld the part of the indictment concerning D.D. and S.J., while overturning the part relating to R.D. and returning it to the first-instance court for reconsideration.

Under the indictment, which was filed after the investigation was supplemented, D.D. and S.J. are charged with aggravated murder as co-perpetrators. The additional investigation was conducted on the orders of the Court of Appeal in Niš after it twice returned the decision confirming the indictment to the Higher Court in Zaječar. On the second occasion, the appellate court ordered that the decision be made by an entirely new judicial panel from the Higher Court in Negotin.

The prosecution has asked the court to sentence D.D. and S.J. to life imprisonment.

According to the prosecution, D.D. and S.J. allegedly struck the two-year-old girl with a company vehicle belonging to the public utility company "Vodovod," where they were employed, in Banjsko Polje near Bor on March 26, 2024, before placing her in the vehicle. They are also suspected of dumping her body at a landfill and later moving it to another location. The girl's body has never been found.

R.D. is suspected of helping his son, D.D., move the girl's body.

D.D.'s biological brother, also identified by the initials D.D., died on April 7, 2024, while being held at the Bor Police Department.