A Calgary woman made a brief appearance in court Tuesday morning, charged with the second-degree murder of her teenage daughter.

The body of Aminat Magomadova, 14, was found Monday in her family's Fay Road home in the city's southeast. Her 36-year-old mother, Aset Magomadova, is charged with second-degree murder.

The body of Aminat Magomadova, 14, was found Monday in her family's Fay Road home in the city's southeast.
(CBC)

Police were called to the family's home five times in recent weeks, said acting Staff Sgt. Chris Matthews, who is not releasing much information about the reasons for the calls.

"We didn't have the need to call in the domestic conflict unit, we didn't have the need to call in the child-at-risk response team," he said.

The family emigrated to Canada from war-torn Chechnya three years ago, Matthews said.

In an article written about the mother five years ago, she mentions losing part of her foot and being abused by Russian soldiers while fleeing to refugee camps.

The girl had a 12-year-old brother, but Matthews didn't know if he's staying with family members or has been taken into care by the province.

'Engaging and vibrant young girl'

A spokesman for the Calgary Board of Education said the teen attended William Roper Hull School, where counsellors were on hand Tuesday to help Magomadova's classmates deal with her death.

"The principal did tell me that he remembered the student very fondly as an engaging and vibrant young girl," spokesman Ted Flitton said.

A neighbour, Phyllis Smith, said she is in a state of disbelief about what's happened.

"I really can't believe it," she said. "I only heard them once in a disagreement over there and that was when I was shovelling my sidewalk …. But that's just normal — you've got a teenaged kid."

Barry Jacobsen, another neighbour, said he could hear arguments from the house and, at one point, the 14-year-old daughter was kicked out of the house and told him and his wife about her troubles.

"She would just say that … her and her mother always got into fights and arguments," he said. "I said, well, then you really need help."