Biological Father Causes Newborn's Death by Feeding 'Zolpidem Milk'... Biological Mother Says "Husband Is a Good Person"

"Unintentional Mistake... Claim That Husband's Eyesight Is Poor"

The wife of a man in his 40s, who caused the death of a two-week-old newborn by feeding milk mixed with zolpidem, appeared as a witness in court and defended her husband, saying it must have been a mistake.

B, the wife of A, a man in his 40s indicted on charges including child abuse resulting in death, appeared as a witness at the second trial held on the 17th at the Daejeon District Court Criminal Division 11 (Presiding Judge Choi Seok-jin). B stated regarding A's crime, "It was not intentional but just a mistake," and added, "My husband was a good father and a good person. He must feel even more wronged."

B claimed that regarding A mixing a sleeping pill containing zolpidem into the baby's formula milk in water, "The house is a semi-basement, so it was dark even with the lights on, and my husband’s eyesight is poor, so he probably couldn’t see properly," arguing that feeding the zolpidem milk was a mistake.

Daejeon District Court building
[Photo by Yonhap News]

A was indicted on charges of feeding milk mixed with zolpidem to a two-week-old newborn, born to him and his common-law wife B, whom he was caring for alone on January 13. Zolpidem is a medication used for short-term treatment of insomnia and is not administered to children due to possible side effects such as respiratory problems or vomiting.

Afterward, when the baby was in a dangerous condition such as hypothermia after drinking the milk, A also committed abuse by dropping the baby on the floor, causing head injuries. Furthermore, investigations revealed that despite the baby vomiting and losing consciousness, A did not report the incident out of fear of being arrested.

Regarding not calling 119 after the baby's fall accident, he said, "I was afraid of being punished because I was wanted for fraud," but also claimed, "I performed artificial respiration on the baby and did not neglect him."

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