Father Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison for Causing Death of 100-Day-Old Daughter by Feeding Her Zolpidem-Infused Formula Milk

Vomiting and Loss of Consciousness Ignored Without Reporting
Court: "Neglected Despite Knowing It Was Wrong"

A man in his 40s who fed his 100-day-old daughter formula mixed with zolpidem-containing sleeping pills and then neglected her, resulting in her death, was sentenced to a heavy prison term.

On the 19th, the Criminal Division 11 of Daejeon District Court (Chief Judge Choi Seok-jin) sentenced A (40), who was charged with violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes (child abuse resulting in death) and other charges, to eight years in prison. He was also ordered to complete a 40-hour child abuse treatment program and was banned from working at child-related institutions for five years.

A was prosecuted for mixing formula with water containing zolpidem, a sleeping pill, and feeding it to his daughter who was over 100 days old, while he was alone taking care of her on January 13 at 10:23 p.m. The daughter was born to A and his common-law wife B. The sleeping pills had been prescribed to A and his wife at a hospital for insomnia symptoms.

Daejeon Court Exterior
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Afterward, he held his daughter, who was in a dangerous condition such as hypothermia, dropped her on the floor causing her to hit her head, and neglected her even though she vomited and lost consciousness, ultimately leading to her suffocation death. At the time, A was wanted for fraud charges and did not call 119 out of fear of punishment. It was later reported that he was cleared of the fraud charges.

At the sentencing hearing held on the 21st of last month, the prosecution said, "The defendant fed zolpidem-containing medicine to his daughter who was barely over 100 days old, denies the crime claiming it was a mistake, and shows no remorse," adding, "Considering the method of the crime, the nature of the offense is serious," and requested a 10-year prison sentence. In response, A denied the charges, saying, "Because the house is semi-basement and dark even during the day, I accidentally mixed the sleeping pill dissolved in water that I had left for myself," and "I did not intend to deliberately give the medicine. I also performed artificial respiration and CPR at the time."

The court pointed out, "Considering the half-life of the drug, contrary to the defendant's claim that he fed it at 3 p.m., it appears that the formula mixed with zolpidem was given in the evening, and therefore the defendant's claim that it was a mistake made in a hurry after returning from a trip cannot be accepted," and added, "The defendant neglected his daughter for more than an hour until his wife returned home even though she was vomiting and formula was coming out of her nose."

Furthermore, the court stated, "Although the defendant claims to have taken measures such as artificial respiration, those measures were insufficient to improve the critical condition, and the claim that he neglected the child out of fear because he was wanted is not convincing," and ruled, "It is recognized that he knowingly neglected the child, which ultimately led to her death."

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