Couple pleads guilty to regularly abusing their baby, who died after being smothered

Warning: This report contains distressing details of child abuse.

SINGAPORE: For almost his entire life, a baby was regularly abused by his parents, who smothered or shook him to stop him from crying.

He eventually died when he was eight months old, when his mother smothered and hit him before flipping him on his face.

His parents, Chloe Gan Ci Xuan, 23, and Neo Jia Ming, 27, pleaded guilty on Monday (Oct 12) to various charges linked to the death of their son Trevor Neo Yu Hin.

These included causing or allowing the death of a child, ill-treatment of a child and permitting the ill-treatment of a child.

Both Gan and Neo appeared in court in prison clothes. They were gaunt and sat at opposite ends of the dock without speaking to each other.

Gan started weeping when the prosecutor began talking about what she had done to her child. Neo remained expressionless.

THE CASE

The first-time parents had married in August 2023, after Gan got pregnant with Trevor around April 2023.

After giving birth to Trevor on Dec 9, 2023, Gan moved back in with her parents and cared for her son with the help of a confinement nanny.

After the confinement period ended in January 2024, Gan took Trevor back with her to live with her husband. They shared a flat with Neo's uncles.

From February 2024, the couple hired a nanny who cared for Trevor during the day on weekdays. Other relatives helped look after him on weekends.

Soon after moving back in with her husband, Gan realised that she could make her child stop crying or faint by shaking him vigorously.

She had seen her husband do this earlier. Thereafter, the couple shook Trevor frequently to stop his cries.

In January 2024, Trevor was hospitalised at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) for about a week after losing consciousness when Gan shook him. No injuries were found on him.

For about seven months of his life, Trevor was assaulted and bruised by his parents. Neither parent intervened when they saw the other abusing the infant.

Court documents detailed text messages exchanged between the couple after Gan shook her baby when he was about 41 days old.

In the messages, Neo told her not to be "very violent" in shaking the baby as he did, in case it might "damage the brain" or the boy may "become autistic".

Gan replied that she nearly shook him "(almost) 180 degrees", and Neo replied with a smiley face: "Later stupid stupid only ma."

Gan later told Neo that Trevor did not drink any milk because she shook him until he was drained. To this, Neo asked her to "just monitor" and to use her own method instead of his method of shaking.

Sometime before Feb 18, 2024, Neo covered Trevor's nose and mouth with his hands for about a minute until the baby began vomiting milk and turning purple.

Fearing that the infant was going to die, Neo told his wife what happened and said that he did not want to take care of Trevor anymore, because he was afraid he would kill him.

Neo also told Gan to tell others that the bruises on Trevor's face were from Neo's phone falling on it by accident, and not from his forceful slaps.

Neo also pinched his son's fingers forcefully 20 to 30 times about two to three times a month, because he found the baby's reaction funny. His wife was there and did nothing to stop him each time.

Around April 2024, when Trevor was about five months old, Neo began covering his son's nose and mouth whenever he cried.

Trevor would then lose consciousness and stop crying.

Neo knew that he was smothering the baby, but claimed that this was the only way to put him to sleep.

He did this regularly, and his wife began following suit, using a blanket and her hands when the baby became strong enough to pull the blanket away.

Around Apr 2, 2024, Neo was taking Trevor to the nanny's house when the infant began crying.

To stop him, Neo put his hand into his son's mouth and dug around, causing bleeding under his tongue.

The nanny later saw the bleeding and insisted that a doctor see the child.

The couple then took their son to KKH on Apr 2, 2024, where a doctor noted local trauma under the child's tongue, with redness.

The couple left the hospital with the child, and Neo told Gan what he had done.

In May 2024, Gan's mother noticed bruises on the child and warned her daughter to stop hitting the infant.

Around early August 2024, Neo told his wife not to hit the infant at all until after a doctor's appointment, or the doctor would see the bruises and accuse them of abuse.

FATAL ACTS

On Sep 1, 2024, the couple returned home after going out for dinner while Neo's uncles looked after Trevor.

The couple were using their mobile phones in their room while Trevor was in his cot.

When Trevor cried, Gan felt frustrated because she could not sleep. She pressed a blanket over her son's face for close to a minute.

The boy struggled before slowing down, but started crying again when his mother lifted her hand.

Gan then repeated her actions until she felt her arm trembling.

As she was repeatedly smothering her baby, she looked at her husband and asked: "How? You want the baby to die?"

She said that if anything happened, they would go to jail.

He responded: "Wait for the baby to make noise first, then you try again."

After Trevor started crying again, Gan placed the blanket over his face and pressed down hard with her hands.

She pressed with such considerable force that she felt the strength leaving her arms.

However, Trevor continued to cry.

Gan then flipped him over so he lay face down. He stopped crying, and she went to sleep.

At about 11.30pm on Sep 1, 2024, Neo finished playing a mobile phone game and went to check on his son.

He realised that the infant was not breathing and his hands were cold.

He woke his wife up and asked her to check on Trevor while he went to the toilet.

Gan realised that Trevor was unresponsive and his lips were purple.

The couple attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the child but to no avail.

Neo then told Gan to call a taxi instead of an ambulance. He did not want to incur the costs of getting an ambulance, since it was obvious to him that their son was dead.

On the way to KKH, Neo told his wife to keep quiet and not say anything. 

He said that if nothing happened and the police did not get involved, they could continue living their lives and not worry about money anymore.

Trevor was pronounced dead at about 12.20am on Sep 2, 2024, at KKH. Police officers arrested his parents that same morning.

Neo also pleaded guilty to more charges related to his abuse of his wife between February and August 2024.

He had assaulted her over an arcade game and, in a separate incident, punched her more than 10 times in the head over cereal.

He also assaulted his wife after reading a text she had sent to someone, saying she intended to divorce him.

The couple was charged in September 2024. This was before a review panel found lapses and shortcomings among agencies that handled another fatal child abuse case.

Megan Khung had died aged four in February 2020 after being abused for more than a year by her mother and her mother's boyfriend.

AFTERMATH

A preliminary autopsy report stated that Trevor's cause of death was cardiorespiratory failure pending further investigations.

However, the final cause of death was unascertained since there were no anatomical findings or injuries pointing to a definitive cause of death.

Further clarificatory autopsy reports stated that covering the mouth of the child could obstruct his nostrils and mouth, and placing him face down also posed a risk of obstruction.

Both situations could lead to a fatal outcome with suffocation and impaired respiration.

Neo was found to have no mental illness.

Gan was examined at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) and was found not to be suffering any postpartum psychiatric disorder around March or April 2024.

She could have been suffering from an adjustment disorder at the time of the offence, which could have had a minor contributory link to the offence.

This assessment was based on information provided by Gan's mother, which suggested mood-related symptoms during her pregnancy and postpartum period.

Gan had significant stressors such as work and financial difficulties. 

She also said that she had negative emotions and felt frustrated and stressed in caring for her son, especially when she could not stop him from crying.

Her husband also physically assaulted her, which would be another stressor.

However, adjustment disorder would not have impaired her ability to understand the risk of the actions she took.

A report from IMH later stated that most people facing similar stressors would not have presented with the negative symptoms and frustration that Gan had in caring for Trevor.

SENTENCING ARGUMENTS

Gan pleaded guilty to three charges comprising causing the death of a child, ill-treating a child and permitting such ill-treatment.

Neo pleaded guilty to four charges: Allowing the death of a child, ill-treating a child, permitting Gan's ill-treatment of Trevor and domestic abuse of his wife.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Terence Chua and Sean Teh sought 14 to 15 years' jail for Gan and 15 to 16 years' jail for Neo.

Mr Teh said that they calculated Gan's culpability at a slightly lower level because of her adjustment disorder. Neo was in the room and had encouraged her, he added.

Gan was represented by Mr Josephus Tan and Mr Cory Wong from Invictus Law, who sought not more than 12-and-a-half to 13 years' jail.

They described the case as "a clear tragedy", saying that their client was a young and "wholly inexperienced first-time parent", who lamented that she had not listened to her mother earlier.

At the time of the offences, Gan was 21 and Neo was 25. She had become pregnant at 20.

Mr Wong said that she had been "thrust into motherhood" in what was a shotgun marriage, and her IMH reports showed that she was ill-prepared to cope with the changes in her young life.

She was also suffering from adjustment disorder, which had a minor contributory link to her offending, as her "irritable mood state could have impaired her self-control and restraint".

Neo was defended by Mr Eugene Thuraisingam, Mr Johannes Hadi and Ms Seraphine Loh from Eugene Thuraisingam Asia.

Mr Hadi sought a sentence of seven years and seven weeks' jail for Neo. He said his client accepted that he did not take protective steps before and during his wife's fatal act.

However, Neo was the one who checked on Trevor and woke Gan up to do the same, Mr Hadi added.

He also performed CPR and did not try to hide the body.

Mr Hadi also said that Neo was immersed in a mobile game during the final incident when Gan was smothering their son, and he had not instructed her to do this.

The lawyer compared the case to that of Megan Khung, saying his client was overwhelmed as a first-time parent.

However, Justice Hoo Sheau Peng pointed out that Neo "almost took it as a joke, a laughing matter, in terms of what he was doing" and questioned whether he was really overwhelmed.

She adjourned the case to consider the sentences. 

The couple will be sentenced on Oct 21.

The penalty for causing the death of a child is a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine or caning.

For ill-treating a child where death is caused, an offender can be jailed for up to 14 years or fined up to S$40,000 (US$31,200), or both.

If death is not caused, the maximum penalties are eight years' jail or a fine of up to S$8,000, or both.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed remarks exchanged between Gan and Neo. We apologise for the error.