FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - A judge has determined the estranged wife of an internationally known pianist is competent to stand trial in Fort Worth in the deaths of their two young daughters.
Thirty-three-year-old Sonya Tsygankova (tsih-GAN’-koh-vah) had been treated for months at a mental health facility before the judge determined she was competent and returned her in late May to the Tarrant County jail.
Late last year she had been deemed unfit for trial on two counts of capital murder. She’s pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Tsygankova is accused of suffocating her 1-year-old and 5-year-old daughters last year at her suburban Fort Worth home.
The girls’ father, Vadym (va-DEEM’) Kholodenko (koh-loh-DEHN’-koh), won the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth in 2013.
Prosecutors have said they won’t seek the death penalty in the case.
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