All proceedings for an Upper Darby woman accused of stabbing her own daughter to death in December have been stayed after she was determined to be incompetent to stand trial, according to a spokesperson for District Attorney Tanner Rouse.
Diane Grovola (COURTESY UPPER DARBY POLICE)
Diane Grovola, 57, is charged with criminal homicide, murder in the first and third degree, possessing an instrument of crime and aggravated cruelty to animals in the fatal stabbing of 23-year-old Daniele Grovola on Dec. 23.
Diane Grovola, of the 200 block of South Bishop Avenue, was arrested at the scene and remains in custody without bail. She was scheduled for a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Kelly A. Micozzie-Aguirre Jan. 6, which was postponed to Tuesday.
That hearing was canceled by District Judge Gabriella H. Coleman on Monday and the case was sent on to Common Pleas Court. No defense attorney is listed on online court documents.
According to a criminal complaint filed by Upper Darby Police Detective Desiree Forlini:
Police were called to the Bishop Avenue residence at 6:38 a.m. for a report of a woman stabbed.
Responding officers were directed to make contact with the victim’s mother, Diana Grovola, who was reportedly armed with a knife.
When they came into the home, they found Grovola naked, covered in blood, and displaying superficial lacerations to her body that were later determined to be self-inflicted. She resisted officers commands and was forcibly secured into wrist restraints.
While secured, Grovola told officer Officer Inderbir Randhawa, “Sorry, I should have stabbed myself first.”
Responding emergency service personnel found Daniele Grovola suffering from lacerations to her face, chest, legs and back. She was pronounced deceased at 7:07 a.m. despite life-saving measures.
Detectives spoke with the victim’s father, John, who had made the 911 call.
Daniele Grovola, who was allegedly stabbed to death by her mother. (COURTESY COFUNDME)
He said he left his job at the UPS facility at the Philadelphia Airport between 5 and 5:30 a.m., and stopped at McDonald’s on the way home to pick up breakfast for the family. License plate readers confirmed this time frame.
He was greeted at home by the family dog, but when he touched the dog he got blood on his clothing. He said his wife, Diana, was seated on the living room sofa, holding a knife.
“I stabbed our daughter,” the woman told him.
She also mentioned harming the dog, which had lacerations to its abdomen.
John Grovola walked into his daughter’s bedroom and found her lying on her back with her eyes open. He called her name several times, but she was unresponsive. He then returned to his wife in the living room, and called 911.
The father told detectives that while he was calling 911, his wife stated that she did not want to live anymore and she began to stab herself in the chest.
The 911 operator told him to flee, and as he did so, he saw her throw the knife onto the living room floor near the television stand.
He stated that his wife stripped naked, and he could hear her breaking items in the kitchen until the police arrived.
Police recovered a large, stainless-steel knife with a black handle in the living room wall that appeared to have blood on it.
The dog was transported to a veterinarian facility where it was treated for its injuries.
No new dates had been set in the case as of Tuesday.
Daily Times reporter Pete Bannan contributed to this report.