2 years in prison for mother who killed her child

After two times returning the case file for further investigation to clarify whether the mother killed her child or accidentally killed her child because she was afraid of discovering her adultery, the People's Court has now sentenced the defendant for involuntary manslaughter.

The defendant put his face down on the table the entire time waiting for the trial to begin. Photo: Uyen Trinh

On the afternoon of December 14, the Family and Juvenile Court (HCMC People's Court) sentenced defendant Huynh Thi Kim Phuong (38 years old, residing in Binh Tan District, HCMC) to 2 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.

Previously, the court opened two trials but both times returned the case file for further investigation to determine the defendant's subjective consciousness when committing the crime.

According to records, Phuong and Mr. Nguyen Trang got married in 2000 and had two children together - a boy and a girl. While selling fabric at Tan Binh Market (HCMC), Phuong had an affair with a man selling fabric at a stall next door and gave birth to a baby girl.

Because of his suspicion, in early 2016, Mr. Trang secretly took the girl to the hospital for a DNA test and the results showed that he was not the child's father.

On the night of February 9, 2016, Mr. Trang called his wife into the room to ask her what happened, but Phuong avoided him, so he hit Phuong in the face and closed the door, not letting her go out. At midnight, Mr. Trang opened the door to let Phuong go downstairs to sleep with the baby.

The next morning, when Mr. Trang entered the room, he discovered that the baby was purple and had stopped breathing, and Phuong was bleeding from her left wrist.

Forensic examination results showed: the muscles and cartilage in the neck area were compressed, similar to the image of strangulation. Acute pulmonary edema, hemorrhage in the muscles in the neck area and scattered hemorrhage in the muscle tissue under the cartilage. The mucous membranes in the thyroid cartilage and tracheal cartilage were severely congested.

Accordingly, on February 18, 2016, Phuong was prosecuted for murder. In early 2017, the investigation agency changed the charge to involuntary manslaughter and the Ho Chi Minh City People's Procuracy issued an indictment to prosecute Phuong for this crime.

In previous trials, Phuong testified that she had accidentally put the bracelet around her neck, not knowing that she had killed her child, and only realized it at around 7am, so she cut her wrist and committed suicide...

But the panel of judges said that the investigation conclusion that the defendant's hand was wearing a lot of jewelry that came into contact with the neck, blocking the child's airway, causing the child's death, was inconsistent with the defendant's self-confession, testimony at the investigation agency, and testimony at the trial.

The forensic explanation of the expert at the trial showed that the entire simen bracelet was on the forearm, not touching the neck area. If there was an impact from the bracelet, there would be traces left on the corpse...

The defendant's behavior was intentional, foreseeing the consequences but allowing the consequences to occur, accepting the consequences to occur.

However, in the trial this afternoon, the panel of judges determined that based on the expert's explanation, there was not enough basis to conclude how much force the defendant used to impact the child's neck.

When the defendant presses on the neck, does the child have a reflex and how does it react? When there is a reflex, the defendant can recognize it. However, in children and the elderly, if there is a reflex, it is very weak or non-existent.

For the above reasons, there is not enough basis to conclude that the defendant's subjective intention was to kill his child.

To ensure the principle of presumption of innocence and based on the provisions on trial limitations, the panel of judges accepted the decision of the representative of the prosecutor's office to prosecute the defendant for involuntary manslaughter and sentenced the defendant to 2 years in prison.

According to tuoitre