The killing in Borisova Gradina
Georgi Ignatov was a 15-year-old schoolboy. On June 2, 2015, he was fatally attacked in Borisova Gradina, one of Sofia's best-known public parks. The case drew sustained public attention because the attack happened in daylight and because the criminal process took years to produce a final judgment.
Investigators gathered surveillance material and later recovered a knife after information supplied during the investigation. Those elements became part of a prosecution that would ultimately be tested through three judicial levels.
Investigation and arrest
Yoan Matev was arrested in February 2017. Bulgarian reporting described surveillance footage that showed a person leaving the area and evidence developed later in the investigation. Matev was a minor at the time of the killing, an important fact for both the charge and the available sentence.
Crime by Region does not treat investigative suspicion as proof. The decisive status comes from the later final judgment, not from the arrest itself.
First-instance acquittal
The Sofia City Court initially acquitted Matev, concluding that the prosecution had not proved beyond the required standard that he was the person who inflicted the fatal wound. That acquittal is a central part of the procedural history.
The prosecution and the victim's family challenged the result. The case then moved to the Sofia Court of Appeal, which reached a different conclusion after reviewing the evidence.
Appellate conviction
On October 25, 2022, the Sofia Court of Appeal overturned the acquittal and found Matev guilty of intentionally killing Ignatov. The appellate court imposed a sentence of six years and six months' imprisonment. It did not uphold the more aggravated allegation that the killing had been committed in a particularly painful manner.
The sentence reflected the legal rules applicable because Matev had been under 18 at the time of the offense. That context is necessary to understand why the term was substantially lower than adult murder sentences seen in other Bulgarian cases.
Supreme Court of Cassation
In Decision No. 214 of June 8, 2023, the Supreme Court of Cassation left the appellate criminal judgment in force. The court modified the civil awards to Ignatov's parents, increasing them from 150,000 leva to 200,000 leva each, but it did not overturn the murder conviction or the six-and-a-half-year prison sentence.
The Supreme Court's press office stated that the decision was not subject to further appeal or protest. That makes June 2023 the final adjudicated point used by this archive.
Later custody status
In September 2025, Bulgarian media reported, citing the Ministry of Justice, that Matev had completed the sentence after credit for detention, house arrest and prison work and had been released. A completed sentence is a penitentiary status; it does not alter the underlying final conviction.
Current status
The legally relevant sequence is therefore: first-instance acquittal, appellate conviction, final Supreme Court confirmation. Presenting only one of those stages would distort the case. The page records all three and uses the final judgment for classification.
Graphic detail is omitted because it is not necessary to understand the investigation or the legal outcome.
Related Bulgaria case files
For another Sofia park homicide resolved through lengthy appellate proceedings, see The Murder of Yana Krasteva. The Andrei Monov case also involved contested defense arguments that were ultimately resolved by Bulgaria's highest criminal court.
Frequently asked questions
Who was convicted?
Yoan Matev was finally convicted of intentionally killing Georgi Ignatov.
What was the final sentence?
Six years and six months in prison.
Was Matev originally acquitted?
Yes. The Sofia City Court initially acquitted him, but the Sofia Court of Appeal overturned that judgment.
When did the conviction become final?
On June 8, 2023, when the Supreme Court of Cassation confirmed the appellate criminal judgment.