"More Devilish Than the Devil"... Grandmother's Agonized Cry After Losing 20-Month-Old Granddaughter

"I Was Hit by My Daughter Every Night When I Was Not There"

A (29), accused of abusing and causing the death of his 20-month-old daughter (child abuse homicide), is leaving Dunsan Police Station in Seo-gu, Daejeon, on the afternoon of the 14th of last month to attend a pre-arrest detention hearing at the Daejeon District Court. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] A 29-year-old stepmother, who was put on trial for brutally abusing, killing, and sexually assaulting her 20-month-old stepdaughter, was called "a devil worse than the devil" by her mother-in-law, Ms. A.

In an interview with CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' on the 31st, Ms. A expressed her anger, saying, "My heart is torn apart, and I am shedding tears of blood; I cannot live. Even now, it feels like the child is still alive, and I don't know what to do."

According to Ms. A, her daughter, Ms. Jeong (25), met Yang (the accused) at the same company in January 2019, and their relationship developed into a romantic one. Ms. Jeong later became pregnant. However, Yang committed fraud during his probation period and was imprisoned. Yang gave birth to the child alone at a single mother center. After Yang was released, the two began living together from January 1 of this year.

Ms. A said, "My daughter is a little different from other mothers. She cannot take care of the baby and does not know how to handle the child." When asked by the host if her intellectual abilities were lower than others, she replied, "Yes. She does not know how to communicate properly."

She said, "At first, I accepted the baby's father (Yang) as my son and let him into the house. But he reportedly hit the child every night when I was not there. I didn't know. He made the child unable to cry out loud and threatened that he wouldn't leave me alone if I told him. He covered the child's mouth, grabbed the hair, hit the neck in two places, and kicked the child," she explained.

Ms. A also recalled, "While I briefly went to the market, Yang was naked, and the baby was beside him." When she asked what he was doing in broad daylight, Yang shouted at her, "If you don't know and haven't seen properly, don't speak carelessly."

Furthermore, Ms. A said she learned about Yang sexually assaulting the baby later from Ms. Jeong. She said, "Before calling the police, my daughter told me, 'Mom, something even scarier happened.' She said Yang made both her and the baby kneel and took turns forcing sexual acts on them. It is truly horrifying," she expressed in outrage.

Ms. A added that Yang threw the baby against the wall several times during the killing process. When asked about Ms. Jeong's current condition, she said, "My daughter tells me to 'kill me quickly.' She feels like the baby is playing beside her and does not want to go outside, shedding tears of blood." She appealed, "Please conduct a thorough investigation so that such incidents never happen again."

Meanwhile, the 12th Criminal Division of Daejeon District Court (Presiding Judge Yoo Seok-cheol) is hearing the case against Yang, who is charged with child abuse resulting in death and violation of the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes (rape of a minor under 13), and Ms. Jeong, who is charged with concealment of a corpse and other offenses.

Yang is accused of covering the 20-month-old child with a blanket at his residence in the early morning of June 15, then punching the child dozens of times and stomping on the child dozens of times for about an hour, causing the child's death. Afterwards, Yang and Ms. Jeong placed the body in an icebox and hid it in the bathroom of the house. The body was discovered on the 9th of last month.

The prosecution confirmed that Yang sexually assaulted and forcibly molested the child before the abuse and killing. He admitted most of the charges at the first trial held on the 27th. The prosecution's sentencing recommendation for Yang and Ms. Jeong is scheduled for October.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.