A 22-year-old student who killed her newborn baby by putting it in a cereal box and then a suitcase has been convicted of murder.
Jia Xin Teo, 22, from Malaysia, arrived in the UK earlier this year to study at Coventry University and “probably knew” that she was pregnant when she landed.
She gave birth on March 4, in the en suite bathroom of her bedroom in a student halls of residence.
Moments later, she placed her baby girl in a cereal box, which she then put in a sealable plastic bag. The 22-year-old then placed the bag with her newborn in, into a suitcase.
Jia Xin Teo has been found guilty of murder
West Midlands Police
David Mason KC, prosecuting, said Teo later told police that her baby had survived “at least a number of minutes” and was still moving when she placed her into the box and bag.
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said that by the time West Midlands Police discovered the body two days later, the newborn was dead.
A university friend staying in the same accommodation forced entry into her room following the birth, finding the mum “covered in blood”.
When an ambulance was called, she denied medical treatment and refused to leave her bathroom.
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Officers were only called after Teo took herself to hospital after her condition had deteriorated.
Despite a positive pregnancy, She initially denied having given birth, but later told the truth.
Teo said that she was frightened of what her family and friends in Malaysia would think once they found out.
She also claimed that she heard voices which told her she needed to kill or harm the infant.
She arrived in the UK earlier this year to study at Coventry University
Wikimedia Commons
James Leslie Francis, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Baby Teo was alive after birth and could have survived, but Jia Xin Teo made the decision to place her inside a cereal box knowing that it would kill her.
“She lied to friends who cared about her, to doctors at the hospital and to the police so that no one found her baby. She did not tell the police where she hid her baby until two days had passed by which time the baby would certainly be dead.”
Teo will be sentenced at a later date, which is yet to be arranged.