7 Years Ago 'Newborn Baby Burial' Mother Commits Crime in Front of 11-Year-Old Son

Daughter One Week Old Buried Alive in Backyard
Son Present at Crime Scene, Constituting 'Emotional Abuse'

A biological mother who buried her one-week-old daughter alive in a garden bed 7 years ago committed the crime in front of her then 11-year-old son.

At the first trial held on the 31st at the Incheon District Court Criminal Division 15 (Presiding Judge Ryu Hojung), the defense attorney of A (44), who was indicted on charges of murder and corpse abandonment, stated, "We acknowledge all the facts and evidence of the indictment," and added, "The defendant admits the charges and deeply reflects on them."

A woman in her 40s, who buried her one-week-old daughter alive in a vegetable garden last month on the 7th, is entering the Incheon District Court to undergo a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant hearing).
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Dressed in a light green prison uniform, A appeared in court and silently nodded when the judge asked, "The investigative agency claimed that the son did not witness the crime scene, but do you admit everything in court?" Earlier, before entering the warrant hearing court on the 7th of last month, A denied the reporters' question, "Did you commit the crime in front of your son?" by saying, "I did not do it in front of my son." A also stated that she does not want a citizen participation trial or jury trial.

A was arrested and indicted on charges of burying and killing her one-week-old daughter B in a garden bed in Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi Province, between 10 and 11 p.m. in mid-August 2016. It was investigated that she gave birth to B at an obstetrics and gynecology hospital in Michuhol-gu, Incheon, on the 7th of the same month and buried B in a garden bed owned by her stepfather.

At the time of the crime, A took her 11-year-old son C by taxi to the garden bed and is also charged with emotionally abusing her son (child abuse under the Child Welfare Act) by burying B in front of him. According to the police's reading of the indictment, after burying her daughter, A stomped on the soil with her feet to firmly pack the dirt covering the body. She also destroyed evidence by burning B’s baby clothes in a furnace to conceal the crime.

A’s crime was uncovered 7 years later during a full investigation of unregistered births. Michuhol-gu, while verifying the whereabouts of B, whose birth was not registered, requested a police investigation, and A was urgently arrested on the 5th of last month. During the police investigation, remains presumed to be B’s were found in the garden bed A had identified as the burial site.

Investigations revealed that A was separated from her husband when she gave birth to B, later divorced, and raised C alone. In the police investigation, A said, "It was an unwanted pregnancy, and due to financial difficulties, I could not raise my daughter."