13-year-old girl found dead in Brandenburg; 22-year-old suspect hospitalized with life-threatening head injuries

Body found in an empty house

The body of a 13-year-old girl from Berlin-Marzahn was found on Sunday, 8 November, in an unoccupied house in Altglietzen, a village in the Märkisch-Oderland district of Brandenburg close to the Polish border. She had been missing for about a week after leaving home for school. Police found a 22-year-old German man from Berlin in the same house with a life-threatening head injury. Police circles said he had likely inflicted it on himself, and he is still being treated in intensive care. On Tuesday, 10 November, a spokesman for Berlin prosecutors said there was no new information about his condition. According to police circles, it is completely open whether he will ever be fit enough to stand trial.

A conviction months before the death

On 21 October 2026 the Passau local court sentenced the suspect to one year in prison, suspended on probation, for driving without a licence, negligent bodily injury, forgery, endangering road traffic and possessing two banned weapons, a butterfly knife and a knuckle duster. Prosecutors in Passau confirmed the conviction, which has been final since 5 November. Berlin prosecutors had first told the public that he had no previous convictions, and that statement was later corrected. The offences stem from a police stop in Bavaria on 4 November 2025. The man, driving a car with a caravan fitted with stolen number plates, fled on the A3 motorway toward Austria, hit two cars and collided head-on with a truck. Two people suffered minor injuries.

Psychiatric admission and child abuse images

Passau's court ordered his provisional admission to a psychiatric hospital the day after the chase, and he stayed there from 5 November 2025 until mid-January 2026. The suspected mental illness was not confirmed, so he was released. Officers found images of abused children on his phone during the 2025 traffic stop. After analysing the phone and other data storage devices, Passau prosecutors handed the case to Berlin on 28 April 2026, because he lived in Berlin. Berlin prosecutors had been investigating him since January 2025 over acquiring and possessing child abuse material, and they are now running two proceedings. Passau prosecutors said the conditions for pretrial detention were not met at the time, because he was not considered previously convicted and had a fixed address in Berlin.

Investigation after the suspect was identified

Investigators identified the suspect on Monday, 9 November, and searched his flat in Marzahn, in the area around the family home. Police secured what they called potential evidence and said there are so far no indications of an accomplice. An autopsy took place on Monday and further examinations were ordered. It is unclear how much detail about the cause of death and any possible sexual offences will be made public, since the protection of personality rights for a 13-year-old is especially strong. Where and how the girl was killed remains unknown.

Vigil and community response

Near the family home in Marzahn, people have left candles, white roses and small stuffed animals on the pavement. The dpa news agency counted more than a hundred candles, while Tagesspiegel described hundreds, and children left handwritten notes and drawings at the site. Candles and soft toys also appeared near the school on Monday. In Altglietzen, the village church opened its doors on Monday so residents had a place to mourn, and the local pastor described the act as shocking and unexpected. An umbrella organisation of Vietnamese associations in Germany said the death had deeply shaken the Vietnamese community, and a delegation planned to visit the family on Tuesday to offer support. The family is of Vietnamese origin.