Open verdict issued on death of three-month-old baby

A three-month-old baby died after his mother found him unconscious on a bed in February 2018. He had shared the same bed as her.

The state coroner yesterday recorded an open verdict in the case, saying the cause of death was inconclusive and there was no basis to suspect foul play.

The child, who had been a sickly baby, could have died after his mother accidentally rolled on top of him while she was sleeping.

There was also a possibility that the infant, who was born premature, could have died from an illness, or from asphyxia from being in a prone sleeping position.

Two months after this tragedy, the mother killed her daughter by throwing the two-year-old girl to the floor twice in a fit of anger.

In November last year, she was sentenced to seven years in jail after pleading guilty to a charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

The mother of six, now 31, was found to be suffering from a major depressive disorder at the time of the attack.

In 2011, another of her children died of a viral infection when he was four months old.

During the inquiry, the court heard that on Jan 22, 2018, her younger son was admitted to KK Women's and Children's Hospital and diagnosed with gastroenteritis after a 10-day bout of diarrhoea, four days of vomiting and three days of fever.

He was discharged six days later, after treatment.

NAP

On Feb 6 that year, the baby was sleeping at home around 11am when his mother decided to take a nap beside him on the same bed.

When the baby started crying, she placed him face down with his head turned to one side.

She also used a bolster to support his body, said State Coroner Kamala Ponnampalam yesterday.

The woman fell asleep beside her son soon after.

She woke up about three hours later and found the infant lying face down against a pillow. He had turned blue.

Paramedics later arrived and rushed the boy to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4.13pm.

Two months after this tragedy, the woman killed his older sister.

The housewife was tending to the little girl in their two-room flat on April 9, 2018, when she became angry with the toddler for defecating on a towel.

Shortly after, the woman was further angered when the girl did not obey her instructions to go to the bedroom.

She pulled the toddler into a room, lifted her up to shoulder level and threw her to the floor. This made the girl cry even louder.

The woman then told her daughter to clean up her toys in the living room.

When she saw the girl standing still and crying, she lifted her up again and threw her to the floor. The little girl died soon after.