Sofya Tsygankova, the estranged wife of pianist Vadym Kholodenko, has been charged with killing the couple’s daughters in Fort Worth, Texas, Reuters reported on Monday, March 21, citing law enforcement.
According to the news agency, Tsygankova was charged with two counts of capital murder. Her daughters, Nika, 5, and Michela, 1, were found dead in their rooms a few days earlier on Thursday, March 17.
“We have probable cause, reason to believe, that she committed the homicides,” Benbrook police commander David Babcock told reporters at a news conference on Monday.
Per Reuters, Tsygankova, 31, suffered “what appeared to be self-inflicted stab wounds” in the incident. Kholodenko, 29, an award-winning Ukrainian pianist, discovered the tragedy when he stopped by to pick up the kids on Thursday morning. The two split last November after marrying in 2010.
“The loss of my children will be with me forever,” Kholodenko said in a statement on Friday. “Wherever I go after this tragedy, my heart will stay with all the people here of Fort Worth and my daughters will rest in this soil.”