Mother kills son in bathtub after evading child services

Recently, Moscow was shaken by a horrific murder: 46-year-old Alexandra Shalina drowned her five-year-old son in a bathtub. As she explained to law enforcement, the reason was her unwillingness to raise and develop the child. According to the woman, she had long contemplated harming the child.

It turned out that this is not the first criminal case involving Alexandra. Previously, her 15-year-old daughter accused her stepfather of rape. MSK1.RU tells everything known about the woman and her family.

Already threatened to kill her son

As MSK1.RU learned, Alexandra Shalina (maiden name Belova) was born in Yakutia (a republic in Russia). In the 2000s, she moved to Chuvashia (another Russian republic), where she lived for several years. It is known that from her first marriage, Alexandra has two daughters aged 21 and 15.

Later, the mother and children moved to Nizhny Novgorod Region, where in 2015 Alexandra married for the second time. Her new husband—also named Alexander—worked as a taxi driver. From his first marriage, he had two adult sons—Stanislav and Vadim.

“They met on social media. Sasha brought her and the children to his home in Diveyevo. If I«m not mistaken, they separated seven years ago. After the divorce, in 2020, their youngest child was born,” family friend Vyacheslav told MSK1.RU.

Despite the end of the relationship, the woman continued to live in the ex-husband«s house in the village of Diveyevo and was even supported by him.

Family acquaintances suspected her of being in a sect: Alexandra often took the children on religious tours abroad. On one of these tours, according to acquaintances, she burned the documents of her young son and threatened to kill him if her ex-husband did not send her money.

“Alexandra sometimes ran away from home, she wanted freedom. A couple of years ago, she went on a tour to Abkhazia, from there she called her husband and threatened: ‘Take this bastard, or I«ll bury him here in the stones, I»ll kill him.’ Sasha and his son then went to get the child, but in the end, they took her too,” Vyacheslav recalled in a conversation with MSK1.RU.

Terrified her daughter and sent her ex behind bars?

In 2024, Alexandra contacted the police. According to her, her 55-year-old ex-husband had been raping her stepdaughter for five years. The girl was only 13 years old at the time. Simultaneously, the woman claimed that she was allegedly beaten with a hammer by her ex-husband«s elder son Stanislav.

“She called 112 in front of us, called an ambulance. Allegedly, Stas broke her arm, beat her. But she didn«t know that cameras were installed: on the video, it was visible that she hit herself. There was a trial, and if not for this video, Stas would have been fired from work or jailed. She was given a ridiculous fine of one thousand rubles (approximately $11 at current rates) for giving false testimony,” Vyacheslav told MSK1.RU.

In April 2024, the Investigative Committee of Russia for Nizhny Novgorod Region charged Alexander with rape of a person under fourteen years of age (paragraph «b» of part 4 of article 131 of the Criminal Code). The man faces up to 20 years in prison; he did not admit guilt.

In the spring of 2025, hearings on the criminal case began. Alexandra and her daughter stated that they wanted not only a prison term for the man but also compensation of 40 million rubles (approximately $450,000 at current rates).

“So that I could buy an apartment in Moscow in the future. He threatened that if I told anyone, he would kill all of us and bury us,” the teenager said.

Now Alexandra«s ex-husband is in a pre-trial detention center (SIZO). Soon after the start of the court proceedings, the woman and children moved to Moscow.

“Since she moved to Moscow, no relatives have seen the child. As for Alexander, he is still in SIZO. His guilt is not proven, and they can«t put him in prison—they just delay and extend the measure of restraint, drag him through hearings,” Vyacheslav shared with MSK1.RU.

“My son must pass to the other world”

According to the godmother of the deceased child, Lyubov, family friends and the elder children of Alexandra Shalina«s ex-husband appealed to child protective services with a request to check her.

“When she lived in Diveyevo, child services came to them, but they were useless. She was given two weeks to clean up her house and put things in order. Then, amid the commotion, she packed up and left for Moscow. According to a friend with whom she lived with the children, Alexandra beat her son every day. Why did she hate the little one so much?” lamented the godmother of the deceased child, Lyubov, in a conversation with MSK1.RU.

According to the investigation«s version, on January 24, Alexandra Shalina dragged her son into the bathroom. The woman put a robe belt around the boy»s neck and began to drown him. Making sure that the child showed no signs of life, she called the police. The law enforcement officers who arrived at the scene found the woman incoherent.

“She stated that on that day she went to church. On the way back, she began to have various thoughts,— says the source. — Returning home, she went to the bathroom to draw water… She says: ‘I decided that my son must pass to the other world.’ At the same time, she does not voice clear motives. There is no logic in her words,” a source in law enforcement told Komsomolskaya Pravda.

A criminal case was opened against Alexandra for the murder of a minor (paragraph «c» of part 2 of article 105 of the Criminal Code). During interrogation, she admitted guilt. The woman faces up to 20 years in prison. Soon, a court in Moscow will choose a measure of restraint for Alexandra.

“As part of the investigation of the criminal case, the accused will be appointed and undergo a stationary psychological and psychiatric forensic examination,” the Investigative Committee reported.

According to preliminary information, Alexandra may have mental disorders. As reported by the Telegram channel Baza, the mother of the woman and grandmother of the deceased child suffered from schizophrenia.

Last year we reported on Elena Ts. — she killed her six-year-old son and threw his head into one of the ponds in eastern Moscow. The woman was arrested; in court, she could not explain why she killed the child. All that is known about this horrific incident, we collect in a separate story.