The Supreme Court Wednesday upheld a 20-year prison sentence for a Taoyuan woman who set a fire that killed her live-in girlfriend’s three-year-old daughter, dismissing her final appeal.
Court documents said the woman, surnamed Teng (鄧), lived with her girlfriend, surnamed Yu (游), and Yu’s daughter and parents in Taoyuan’s Dasi District (大溪).
In January 2023, the couple fought after the child’s biological father visited their home, during which Teng threatened to burn Yu’s family and daughter.
Photo: Chang Wen-chuan, Taipei Times
On the morning of Feb. 7, 2023, the couple argued again after Teng checked Yu’s cellphone.
Teng poured gasoline on Yu, her daughter, and throughout the room before igniting it with a lighter.
Yu managed to extinguish the flames in the bathroom and tried to rescue her daughter, but the fire spread too quickly.
The child died at the scene from burns and smoke inhalation, while Yu had second and third-degree burns over 90 percent of her body.
Prosecutors in June that year, charged Teng with homicide and making criminal threats.
In June 2024, a panel of citizen judges at the Taoyuan District Court found her guilty of intentionally killing a child and sentenced her to 20 years in prison, plus 59 days of detention for the threat, convertible to a fine.
The prosecution and Teng appealed the ruling, but the Taiwan High Court upheld the sentence in July this year, saying the lower court had correctly established the facts and applied the law.
The Supreme Court later dismissed Teng’s final appeal, finalizing the 20-year prison sentence.
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