By Ivan Pereira
Judge Linda Tally said her decision was based on a thorough report by the girl's therapist, who said Michelle did not know that her mother was in jail and was emotionally frail.”The court doesn't feel visitation with the mother is appropriate,” Tally told Borukhova, who was sitting silently in the courtroom with her sister, Sofia.Borukhova, 34, a Bukarian Jewish immigrant from Uzbekistan, has had contact with her daughter through 15-minute weekly monitored phone calls, a type of communication would continue indefinitely, the judge said.On Oct. 28, Dr. Daniel Malakov, also 34 and an Uzbek immigrant, was shot twice in the chest as he was dropping off Michelle to visit her mother at the Annadale Playground on 64th Road and Yellowstone Boulevard. Borukhova had lost custody of the girl to him days before the shooting during a bitter custody battle.After the shooting, Michelle was placed in the care of a foster home, but her living arrangements will be changing soon, according to Tally. The judge told the Borukhovas and Malakovs that the girl's foster mother would be giving up custody next month and the city's Administration for Children's Services would have to look for another foster family. Malakov's parents and brothers had asked the judge for custody of the girl and Tally agreed with them during last week's hearing. She cited a report from ACS and the private foster care agency handling Michelle's case and recommended to ACS that Michelle be placed in the care of Malakov's brother, Joseph Malakov.The girl had reacted well to recent visitation sessions with her uncle and cousins, according to Tally, and the judge ordered more visitations so that ACS could make a better decision.”The court is aware that the child is more familiar with the maternal relatives – however… she has become more familiar with paternal relatives,” Tally said.The judge strongly recommended against placing the girl in the care of the Borukhova family, citing their recent criminal problems.Three weeks after the murder police arrested Mikhail Mallayev, 50, Borukhova's uncle by marriage, after they matched fingerprints left on an abandoned, homemade silencer used by the shooter to his prints, which were on file for a 1994 arrest. He was extradited from the state of Georgia in January and was remanded to Riker's, where he is awaiting his criminal trial on first-degree murder and conspiracy charges.He was scheduled to be back in court this week.In February, Borukhova was arrested and indicted on the same charges when investigators discovered that she and Mallayev had exchanged 91 phone calls in the weeks leading up to the murder but only two following it.Both pleaded not guilty and could face life in prison without parole if convicted.On March 4, Borukhova's older sister, Natella Natanova, was arrested and indicted on witness tampering charges for allegedly threatening Malakov's brother Gavriel on the streets of Forest Hills.Following a hearing at Queens Criminal Court on March 19, Natanova's attorney, Michael Dowd, said the charges were unfounded since the incident was reported by Gavriel, who has been outspoken against the Borukhova family since the murder.”This is a he-said-she-said case,” Dowd said outside the court room.Both Gavriel Malakov and Natanova repeatedly refused to comment about the alleged threat.Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
