Poor mother begs for leniency for the man who killed her child

The trial of defendant Ngo Van Minh (born in 1997, residing in Nghia Loc commune, Nghia Dan district) took place on Friday, the 13th of July. It was mid-July when it started to rain. Inside the courtroom, the atmosphere was equally gloomy.

There were many people in court, many of them were very young, underage. When he was led into the courtroom and saw his friends, Minh started to cry. If he had not been impulsive and drunk that day, he would not have ended up in this situation.

Defendant Ngo Van Minh cried many times in court. Photo: Phuong Thao

That evening, March 4, after a drinking party, Minh and his friends went out for a drink at a coffee shop in Nghia Loc commune. Minh's group of friends sat there for a while and then saw Pham Van Tien and his friends riding a motorbike to the shop. Because Tien did not turn off the lights, the headlights shone on Minh's face. Minh was angry for that reason.

Minh immediately told Ngo Van The to run to his house to get the iron pipe and bring it over. When he had the iron pipe in hand, Minh told Tran Van Manh to call Tien out to meet him. When Minh caused trouble, Tien said, "I just came here to play, please forgive me if I do anything wrong." As soon as Tien finished speaking, Minh was already angry and used the iron pipe to hit him straight in the chest. Tien collapsed and was taken to the emergency room by everyone but did not survive because the blow to a vital spot caused myocardial infarction and acute pulmonary edema.

The jury questioned Minh about his crime, and he confessed honestly, recounting details but with intermittent sentences. When asked to explain, Minh choked up and said he was very remorseful for his actions, and that he only wanted to warn Tien and had no intention of taking his life. Minh said he was also drunk and could not control his actions.

Present in court as the legal representative of the victim, Tien’s mother, Nguyen Thi Chien, tried to stay calm to answer the questions of the jury. She said that the defendant’s family had also proactively paid 260 million VND in compensation and regularly visited. However, because of the pain of her son’s death, she requested that the law severely punish the person who caused her family pain.

Ngo Van Minh's late regret. Photo: Phuong Thao

At this moment, Minh could only bow his head and cry. Mrs. Chien looked at Minh. The pain of a mother who had lost her child forever, now witnessed the belated tears of regret of the person who caused her child's death. She missed her child but did not know how much to blame.

But just a moment later, the entire hall fell silent before the mother's forgiveness. Mrs. Chien suddenly asked the court to reduce Minh's sentence. "I was very sad to lose my son, but his family was also devastated when he had to go to prison. Minh's future is still long, so I ask the court to reduce his sentence by a few years," Mrs. Chien said each word slowly before the trial of Minh, the man who killed her son.

Listening to each word of Mrs. Chien, Minh cried again. Only then did Minh dare to turn to look at Mrs. Chien, look at the victim's relatives to apologize and thank them. The 15-year prison sentence that Minh received was considered by many to be fair and reasonable. The van carrying the prisoner left the court, Mrs. Chien covered her face and cried. Many people had to run to help the poor mother get on the bus to go home...