Mother accused of shaking 5-month-old son to death admits to killing her baby

By KTimes

A woman in her 20s has been booked without detention for shaking her 5-month-old son to death in Incheon, police said Tuesday.

The Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency said the suspect was charged with child abuse resulting in death under laws related to child abuse.

She violently shook her baby at their home in Incheon’s Seo District on Friday because he would not stop crying. When the child began showing unusual symptoms, she took him to a hospital, but he died early the next morning on Saturday.

Hospital staff, suspecting abuse, reported the case to police around 10 p.m. Friday. Officers arrested the woman at the funeral home the following day and sought a detention warrant, which the court denied.

A preliminary autopsy by the National Forensic Service found the cause of death to be a brain hemorrhage. No external injuries were discovered on the child’s body.

Police said the woman's husband was not home at the time of the incident. The couple also has another son, aged 2, who is currently in the woman's care.

The woman “has admitted to all charges,” a police official said, adding that a detailed investigation is ongoing.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.