10/16/2025October 16, 2025
Trial begins for Aschaffenburg nursery stabbing suspect
About nine months after a deadly knife , court proceedings have begun to determine whether the suspect can be held criminally responsible.
The Aschaffenburg district court is examining whether the 28-year-old Afghan man, who is believed to suffer from mental illness, was legally sane at the time of the January 22, 2025 attack. Prosecutors, citing an initial forensic-psychiatric report suggesting insanity, are seeking his permanent confinement in a psychiatric hospital.
According to investigators, the suspect used a 30-centimeter kitchen knife to attack a group of children in Schöntal Park.
A two-year-old Moroccan boy was fatally wounded, and a 41-year-old German man who tried to help was also killed. The attacker also allegedly stabbed a two-year-old Syrian girl and a 73-year-old German man, both of whom survived. A 59-year-old teacher broke her arm during the assault.
Prosecutors have charged him with murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, threats, and multiple counts of bodily harm. The psychiatric report found a “high probability” that he acted while legally insane, unable to recognize the wrongdoing due to his mental condition.
The suspect, known to police for previous assaults, property damage, and resisting officers, fled the scene but was arrested about 12 minutes after the first emergency call near railway tracks. The blood-stained knife was found nearby.
The proceedings also cover a separate incident in August 2024 at a refugee shelter in Alzenau, where the man allegedly strangled and injured a female resident with a knife. Six court sessions are scheduled through October 30.
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