[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A woman in her 30s, who was prosecuted for suffocating her child to death while breastfeeding, received a suspended prison sentence again in the appellate court.
On the afternoon of the 7th, the Criminal Division 2 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Lee Wonbeom) sentenced Lee (39, female), who was charged with murder and other offenses, to three years in prison with a five-year suspension, the same as the first trial.
The court stated, "Considering comprehensively the usual relationship between the defendant and the victim, the circumstances and motives leading to the crime, the attacked areas and intensity inflicted on the victim, and the situation immediately after the crime, the original judgment acquitting the defendant of murder charges is justified," and dismissed the prosecutor's appeal. However, the court upheld the guilty verdict for child abuse resulting in death, as in the first trial. Additionally, the court imposed a five-year employment restriction order related to child-related institutions, which was omitted in the first trial.
Earlier, Lee was accused of suffocating her approximately one-month-old child by pressing the nose against her breast while breastfeeding at an apartment in Jungnang-gu, Seoul, on the evening of September 18, 2020. After the child showed symptoms of nosebleed and breathing difficulties immediately following breastfeeding, Lee called 119 emergency services, but the child passed away less than two days after being transported to the hospital.
Lee was urgently arrested on the day the child died and was detained in a detention center for about three months. The prosecution indicted her on murder charges and later added child abuse resulting in death as a preliminary charge.
The first trial sentenced her to a suspended prison term, recognizing the child abuse resulting in death charge as guilty, stating, "The defendant's use of physical force (assault) led to the victim's death due to multiple organ failure." However, the court acquitted her of murder charges, saying, "It is difficult to conclude beyond reasonable doubt that there was even a conditional intent to kill the victim beyond the intent to assault."
"The defendant acknowledges the facts of the crime and is remorseful," the court added, "There is no indication that she had previously abused her children, and it appears that the crime was committed impulsively under the influence of postpartum depression and other factors."
In the appellate court, Lee's defense attorney argued, "This is a case where a mother who lost her one-month-old child was detained in a detention center for three months without any postpartum care and is being tried on charges including intentional murder," and claimed, "The defendant has an intellectual disability and was interrogated by the prosecution with an awkward speech and attitude without legal assistance, leading to inconsistent statements and the application of murder charges."
In her final statement, Lee tearfully said, "Even now, when I close my eyes, I keep thinking of my child," and "I never intended to kill."
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