Trot singer gets 25 years for abusing, killing 18-year-old daughter

A trot singer in her 40s who abused and killed her 18-year-old daughter was sentenced to 25 years in prison Thursday.

The First Criminal Division of the Jinju Branch of Changwon District Court sentenced the woman, identified only as A, to 25 years in prison on charges including murder.

A was indicted on charges of assaulting her biological daughter, B, a first-year university student, at a residence in Namhae-gun, South Gyeongsang Province, in September last year, and leaving her to die in a vehicle.

On the day of the incident, A transported the unconscious B to a hospital emergency room, but B was already dead on arrival.

Medical staff alerted police after noticing that B's body was severely emaciated and showed signs of malnutrition and dehydration, with bruises and serious burn marks across her body.

An autopsy determined that B died of complications from injuries sustained across her entire body. Sustained external blows had ruptured muscles and caused subcutaneous hemorrhaging, leading to death by shock.

According to police, A had beaten B with wooden planks and poured boiling water over her head, causing burns to 27 percent of her body, while the two worked together in a broadcasting equipment rental business. Two days before B's death, A beat her with a wooden plank and left her in a vehicle for more than 20 hours despite serious injuries. B died inside the vehicle after being abandoned there while suffering from breathing difficulties and other severe symptoms.

A denied intent to kill even after being indicted, but the court rejected her claim.

"The defendant inflicted bodily harm on the victim and caused burns across her entire body," the court said. "The defendant believed the victim had failed to carry out her assigned tasks or had embarrassed her, but those reasons are far too trivial to justify the brutal treatment inflicted on her own daughter."

The court also said A "has not properly acknowledged her wrongdoing and is evading responsibility," adding that "her conduct is particularly egregious given that she committed the same type of offense again despite having previously received a fine for a similar crime."

However, the court said it took into account, among other factors, that the crime did not appear to have been meticulously premeditated.

A graduated from the medical school of a prominent university in Seoul and has won multiple beauty pageants. She had built a public profile as a trot singer and YouTuber known for volunteer work and acts of goodwill in her local community.