Prosecutors Demand 20-Year Prison Sentence for Perpetrator in 'Geoje Dating Violence Death Case'

A man in his 20s who assaulted his ex-girlfriend, leading to her death, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The 1st Criminal Division of the Tongyeong Branch of Changwon District Court in Gyeongnam (Judges Kim Young-seok, Jung Hyuk, Yoon Sung-geun) held the closing arguments on the 24th regarding the so-called ‘Geoje Dating Violence Death Case’.

At the hearing, the prosecution requested the court to impose a 20-year prison sentence on the perpetrator, Mr. A, who is charged with injury resulting in death, excessive approach behavior (stalking), and trespassing.

Changwon District Court Tongyeong Branch, Gyeongnam.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

Mr. A is accused of breaking into the residence of his ex-girlfriend, Ms. B, a woman in her 20s, on April 1st, climbing onto her while she was sleeping, and violently assaulting her by hitting her head and face and strangling her, which led to her death.

Due to Mr. A’s assault, Ms. B suffered severe injuries including traumatic subdural hemorrhage with a recovery period of six weeks. While receiving treatment at the hospital, she passed away after 10 days from multiple organ failure caused by sepsis.

It was found that Mr. A had been violent towards Ms. B, his high school classmate and girlfriend since around April 2022, repeatedly hitting her on the cheek.

Even after breaking up with Ms. B shortly before the incident, Mr. A called her 14 times and, when she did not answer, visited her residence, demonstrating excessive approach behavior (stalking).

Based on the autopsy results from the National Forensic Service and the medical opinion of the attending physician, the prosecution concluded that there is a causal relationship between the assault and the victim’s death due to systemic inflammatory response syndrome caused by head trauma.

The sentencing for this case is scheduled to take place on November 14th in the same courtroom.