2013 Cliburn winner’s estranged wife still being treated at hospital

The 31-year-old mother of two young girls found dead last week in their Benbrook home remained hospitalized Sunday, police said.

Sofya Tsygankova is being treated for stab wounds and is also under a mental evaluation hold at John Peter Smith Hospital.

“I do not know how long she will be there,” Benbrook police Cmdr. David Babcock said in a Sunday email.

The children’s father, Vadym Kholodenko — the gold medalist at the 2013 Cliburn piano competition — called 911 shortly before 9:30 a.m. Thursday. He had found his daughters dead and Tsygankova, his estranged wife, wounded, police said.

Kholodenko is not considered a suspect, Benbrook police said.

As of Sunday, the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office had not reported the cause and manner of death for the girls, Nika Kholodenko, 5, and Michela Kholodenko, 1.

The children’s bodies showed no obvious signs of trauma, but police are treating their deaths as homicides, Babcock has said.

Tsygankova is also a pianist and studied at the Moscow Conservatory, where she met her future husband when they were students. She and Kholodenko moved with their then 4-year-old daughter, Nika, to Fort Worth in 2014.

Kholodenko filed for divorce in November, stating that the couple, married in April 2010, had ceased living together as husband and wife on or about Aug. 15. Tsygankova counter-petitioned for divorce that same month.

This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published March 20, 2016 at 2:30 PM with the headline "2013 Cliburn winner’s estranged wife still being treated at hospital."