Inset: Lida Shape (Obituary). Background: Ylli Shtopaku appears in court for a murder charge in Bridgeport, Conn. (News 12 Connecticut/YouTube).
A Connecticut mother who had just celebrated her 70th birthday with her family was "viciously" beaten with a baseball bat by her former son-in-law, authorities say.
Ylli Shtopaku, 46, has been charged with murder in the death of Lida Shape.
The gruesome incident occurred in April, the day after the victim turned 70.
It was April 28, and Shape returned to the Ten Trumbull apartment complex where she lived in Trumbull, Connecticut, "with an acquaintance," police said. Around noon, "following a brief encounter," Shape was attacked with a baseball bat.
Authorities contend that Shtopaku arrived at the clubhouse of the apartment complex and beat Shape with a baseball bat for 92 seconds.
Shape lived in the luxury complex with Shtopaku's ex-wife — the victim's daughter — and the former couple's two children, according to regional news channel News 12 Connecticut.
"It was determined that the suspect and the victim were previously relatives but were no longer related due to a divorce in the family several years in the past," a police report reads.
Shtopaku was detained after a neighbor pointed him out to police, the report said. When arrested, the defendant allegedly said, "eh, she tried to kill me for all my life, so I did it today."
Police said they arrived to find Shape "lying on her back, viciously beaten and gasping for air."
Shtopaku told police he happened to see Shape at the food court of a local mall and followed her back to her home, according to law enforcement. The defendant allegedly admitted he tried to confront Shape, but when she did not listen, he grabbed a bat from his car and attacked her.
The report says "he blames his ex-mother-in-law for his divorce, losing his house in Monroe and the fact that he currently does not have money."
According to local news outlets including the newspaper Greenwich Time, prosecutors offered Shtopaku a plea deal on Friday. However, its details of that offer were not made public.
Shtopaku is being held in jail on a $3 million bond. He is expected back in court on Feb. 19, 2026.
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