Home of mom charged with fatal child abuse filled with dead dogs, trash heaps

Incheon authorities discovered two dead dogs inside the home of a woman arrested for allegedly neglecting her 20-month-old daughter, who died of malnutrition, officials said Monday.

District officials found the carcasses during a visit to the home last week after police detained the woman on charges of fatal child abuse on Thursday, according to the Namdong district office.

The dogs did not appear to have been dead long and had not reached an advanced stage of decomposition, officials said. Authorities said the woman had been keeping four dogs and one cat in the home.

Officials described the residence as severely unsanitary and unsuitable for raising children. Dog and cat feces were scattered throughout the home along with piles of garbage and plastic containers.

“When we visited the home with help from a relative of [the woman], it was not an environment where young children could be raised,” a Namdong District official said. “You could say the trash had barely been cleaned up.”

The district office is reviewing how to dispose of the dogs’ remains and considering transferring the surviving pets to a district-run animal shelter with the woman’s consent.

The Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency’s women and juvenile crime investigation unit arrested the woman on Thursday and sent the case to prosecutors on charges of fatal child abuse.

Police allege the woman failed to properly care for a 20-month-old — her second daughter — at the home in Namdong District, leaving the child in a state of malnutrition that led to her death.

Investigators also believe she neglected her older daughter, an elementary school student, and applied an additional charge of child abandonment under the Child Welfare Act. Police said the child’s physical development did not appear severely affected but determined the home’s sanitary conditions were inappropriate for raising children.

The woman headed a single-parent household receiving basic livelihood security benefits, according to police. She received more than 3 million won ($2,000) per month in public support, including living expenses and child allowances, while raising the two daughters without a husband.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY PARK JONG-SUH [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]