Grandfather's tears at funeral of baby 'stabbed 15 times' and found dead in outhouse

Grandfather's tears at funeral of baby 'stabbed 15 times' and found dead in outhouse Tiny Maria Skopova was found with 33 wounds on the day of her birth in Holywell Heights, Sheffield - her mother is one of four people charged with her murder The devastated grandfather of a newborn girl who was allegedly murdered by four people including her mother was seen breaking down in tears at her funeral. Little Maria Skopova - previously referred to as Baby S in court - suffered 33 wounds from 15 separate stabbings. She was found dead in the outhouse of a property on the day of her birth in Holywell Heights, in the Wincobank area of Sheffield. Maria's mother Andrea Skopova, 20, her boyfriend Peter Horvath Jnr, 19, and his parents, Peter Horvath Snr, 38, and Nina Horvathova, 37, have all been charged with murdering her. Today (Monday), a funeral was held for Maria at St Marie's Catholic Cathedral in Sheffield. Rev Fr Chris Posluszny, who led the service at St Marie's Cathedral on Monday, said the infant's death had "affected the family so hard", the BBC reports. Rain stopped just before the funeral car arrived and the baby's grandfather was seen holding a small bright-white casket. There was a moment of silence on the street outside as he broke down in tears and kissed the casket before carrying it in both arms through the doors of the cathedral. Inside, he placed the casket by the altar and crouched, sobbing over it, the BBC reports. A card placed alongside it read: "For Baby Maria. The purest souls never stay too long in this world. With love from a mum x." The service, which was conducted mainly in Slovakian, took place before a further private family service at a cemetery in Sheffield. Police said the five people charged in connection with Maria’s death would not be attending the funeral. Maria's mother, who is on remand, had asked to be able to watch the service on YouTube from prison, Rev Fr Posluszny said. Speaking to the BBC before the funeral, the priest said: "There has been a lot of tears, there has been a lot of asking of questions - why? How could this have happened? "And in some ways, this will be an important moment actually to be able to place the child into the hands of God and also to bury the child and, in a sense, for many of them rebuilding their lives because it has been on hold for weeks and weeks and weeks and I think it has affected all of them tremendously." The four defendants, who are all Slovakian nationals, were also charged with causing or allowing the death of a child, and perverting the course of justice by cleaning the scene of the alleged crime. They were all remanded in custody. A 15-year-old girl, who cannot be named because of her age, is charged with the same perverting the course of justice offence. A trial is due to start in April next year.