Court upholds sentence of man who gave 3-year-old fatal overdose

Taipei, Nov. 4 (CNA) Taiwan's Supreme Court has upheld a 17-year and 10-month prison sentence handed to a Nantou man who gave his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter a fatal overdose of drugs in June 2020.

The case concluded on Oct. 30, when the Supreme Court rejected the appeal of Chen Wei-chia (陳威嘉), who was found guilty of causing death through intentional abuse by the Taiwan High Court in mid-July.

Chen was initially sentenced to life imprisonment by the Nantou District Court in July 2021 for the intentional murder of his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter, surnamed Huang (黃), who died after overdosing on flunitrazepam, a prescription benzodiazepine used recreationally by Chen.

However, this ruling was overturned by the High Court, which found that although Chen had beaten Huang on multiple occasions and also given her the flunitrazepam, it was difficult to prove he had done so with the intention of killing her.

Chen was then retried on charges of causing Huang's death through intentional abuse and convicted by the High Court.

Chen and Huang's mother, surnamed Peng (彭), were separately found guilty of attempting to bury Huang's body near Chen's uncle's residence in Nantou County, receiving 22 months in prison each.