Baby boy's fatal abuse shocks family, who described boy’s father as timid and devoted to his wife

An eight-month-old boy, who later died of his injuries, spent almost his entire short life being abused by his parents. The young parents were jailed after pleading guilty. When interviewed outside court, the mother and sister of the male defendant could not hide their shock. To them, he had always been hardworking, timid and loving towards his wife, and they still struggle to fully believe he could have committed such a thing.

The abuse took place between January and 2 September 2024. Neo Jia Ming and Chloe Gan Ci Xuan, who were 25 and 21 respectively at the time, each faced one charge of causing the death of a child through injury and two charges of child abuse. Neo also frequently assaulted his wife, often over trivial matters, and faced an additional charge of voluntarily causing hurt.

The two were sentenced to 16 years and 15 years and three months in jail respectively on Wednesday (21 October).

The court heard that Neo and Gan exchanged text messages from time to time during this period, discussing their abuse of their son, Trevor Neo Yu Hin, in a casual and even joking manner. In sentencing, Judge Hoo Sheau Peng noted that Trevor had spent almost his entire short life being abused by his parents, which ultimately led to his death.

Neo’s mother, Madam Koh, a 64-year-old coffee shop assistant, and his 29-year-old sister, Ms Neo, expressed shock and disbelief at his actions when speaking to the media outside court.

They had seen him as a hardworking father who held two jobs, as a food delivery rider and a pet groomer, to support his family. His sister recalled: “Ever since he found out he was going to be a father, he had been working hard to earn money. Whenever we asked whether he needed help, he would say that it's fine.”

His sister said she occasionally transferred money to him when he asked, or helped buy milk powder and diapers, but had generally felt he was “quite self-sufficient”. When the couple occasionally brought the child to family meals, they never mentioned financial problems or difficulties in their daily lives, saying only that they were “tired”.

Speaking about the baby, the family said he had been well-behaved. His grandmother remembered how much he loved being held. “His face was round like a pancake, and he was always smiling. I never heard him cry.” His aunt added: “He always wanted people to hug him.”

As her working hours differed from her son’s, Madam Koh saw her grandson “only occasionally”, but never noticed any injuries. She last saw him a few weeks before his death and even bathed him then, but found no bruises or any unusual signs on his body. She also said that when Gan became pregnant, she had urged her son to marry her, believing he should take responsibility for the child.

The family had also never suspected that Gan was suffering domestic violence. In his sister’s eyes, Neo was actually very timid and extremely loving towards his wife, while the soft-spoken Gan was always by his side.

However, police investigations showed that Neo frequently assaulted his wife. On one occasion, he hit her in public because he was unhappy that she had started a mobile game without telling him. On another, he beat her again after discovering that she had told a male friend in a text message that she planned to divorce him.

Gan’s family also attended the hearing that day but declined to speak to the media.

According to The Straits Times, a 22-year-old national serviceman identified only by his initials, D.Q., was a friend of the couple. He described Neo as impulsive but often remorseful and reflective afterwards. “He was a do-first, think-later kind of guy.”

D.Q. met both of them through gaming and introduced them to each other. Their friends knew that Neo was “a bit rough” with Gan, but D.Q. said Neo had decided to change after they spoke about it. However, as the pressures of parenthood began to emerge and everyone became busy with their own lives, they lost touch for a while. By the time D.Q. next heard news of the family, the baby had died.