Police testify in the trial for the murder of child Fabian before the Rostock court

The accused, identified as Gina H., is the ex-partner of the murdered minor's father and knew the child, according to data provided by the court and corroborated by several journalistic sources. The woman has been in pre-trial detention since November 2025 and has so far not made a statement regarding the charges against her, remaining silent throughout the sessions held to date.

The Public Prosecutor's Office maintains that Gina H. murdered little Fabian by treachery, a charge classified in German criminal law as Mord durch Heimtücke, which could carry a life sentence. This legal classification was formally presented at the beginning of the proceedings and constitutes the central axis of the prosecution, which is based, among other indications, on the opinion of an expert who determined that the blood found on a roll of kitchen paper found in the accused's vehicle belonged to the victim.

The discovery in Klein Upahl

Little Fabian, a primary school student, was murdered on October 10, 2025, and his body was found four days later, on October 14, 2025, in the vicinity of a pond near the town of Klein Upahl, in the Güstrow district, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The area where the discovery was made was described in the police report as a 'Wildschweinkuhle', a German term designating a wild boar wallow, a wooded and humid enclave characteristic of the region.

According to the prosecution's account and witness testimonies, it was the accused herself who informed the police about the location of the body and led the officers to the exact spot where the child's lifeless body was found. The woman, accompanied by an acquaintance, told the authorities that they had both found the body while walking their dogs, a version that is now being meticulously examined by the court and the defense.

The testimony of the first officer to arrive at the crime scene was particularly significant for the development of the session. The officer, who testified on June 2, stated before the court that both women appeared agitated at the time of the discovery but did not describe them as deeply affected or visibly shocked by the scene they claimed to have discovered just hours earlier.

That same officer detailed how he had to push through the undergrowth and tall grass to reach where the minor's body was located. The testimony describes a rural, difficult-to-access location with dense vegetation, which was searched by investigators in the early morning hours of the discovery day, guided by the two women who had alerted the authorities.

Testimony of the first officer

The courtroom refocused its attention on the photographic evidence gathered during the investigation. The court projected images and close-ups of the body, which showed a state of almost complete carbonization, according to the graphic documentation displayed on the courtroom screen. The photographs also included shots of the exact discovery site, particularly the enclave known as Wildschweinkuhle where the body was found.

Before the exhibition of the photographs, the presiding judge, Holger Schütt, warned the approximately 90 spectators in the room that the photographs to be projected might be difficult to bear, given the rawness of their content. The magistrate's warning aimed to prepare the present public and the parties involved for the visual harshness of the evidentiary material, which forms an essential part of the forensic report incorporated into the case.

As a direct consequence of the exhibition of the photographs, Fabian's mother, who is involved in the proceedings as a private prosecutor, decided not to attend this day of the trial. Her absence was noted by those present and highlighted by the press following the case, as the mother has maintained an active presence in previous sessions in defense of her son's memory and in the exercise of the popular penal action corresponding to her as a direct relative of the victim.

The photographs and the judge's warning

In previous sessions of the trial, the child's mother directly addressed the accused, Gina H., during a highly emotional moment in the courtroom. Her intervention, described by the media as heartbreaking, highlighted the human scope of the tragedy and the complexity of a trial that is being held under intense media and social attention in the region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

The eighth day of the trial concluded with the confirmation of the hearing schedule planned by the court, which includes new sessions until early September. Among the pending evidence is the testimony of a judicial police commissioner, scheduled as the next witness, who will have to explain to the court the three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the crime scene prepared by forensic experts based on the photographs, ballistic evidence, and the ocular inspection of the rural enclave.

The case, publicly known as 'Fall Fabian' or Fabian case, has shaken German public opinion since the discovery of the body became known, given that it involves a young child and that the accused was in a romantic relationship with the victim's father. The combination of these elements has increased social pressure on the proceedings and has made each day of the trial an event followed with attention by both regional and national media.

The upcoming trial sessions

Gina H.'s defense has not made any substantial public statements on the content of the sessions so far, awaiting the conclusion of the testimonial and expert evidence scheduled for the coming weeks. The defense lawyers have limited their intervention to formal matters raised before the court, without commenting at this time on the content of the testimonies or the expert evidence presented to date.

The proceedings will resume in the coming days with the incorporation of new expert evidence, the testimony of more witnesses, and the presentation of the 3D reconstruction of the scene, elements that the Public Prosecutor's Office considers decisive to support the charge of treacherous murder. The reading of the final verdict, should the court not extend the announced schedule, could occur within the next few months, once all the evidence proposed by the parties has been presented.