A man in his 40s, identified only as A, leaves Yongin Dongbu Police Station in Cheoin-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, on Wednesday to board a transport vehicle for his pre-arrest warrant hearing. He is accused of beating his 2-month-old daughter to death because she would not sleep. [Yonhap]
A man in his 40s, identified only as A, leaves Yongin Dongbu Police Station in Cheoin-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, on Wednesday to board a transport vehicle for his pre-arrest warrant hearing. He is accused of beating his 2-month-old daughter to death because she would not sleep. [Yonhap]

A man in his 40s accused of beating his 2-month-old daughter to death because she would not sleep expressed belated remorse, saying he was "truly sorry."

The Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency's women and youth crimes investigation unit said Tuesday it had detained the office worker, identified only as A, on charges of child abuse homicide under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes, and transferred the case to prosecutors.

A is accused of striking his daughter, identified as B, about 10 times in the face and head with both hands in the early hours of Oct. 11 at his home in Seodong, Osan, Gyeonggi Province. He reportedly told investigators he lost his temper and hit the infant after she kept crying and refused to sleep.

At around 3:47 a.m. that same day, A called police saying his child was not breathing. B was rushed to a hospital in cardiac arrest and later died.

Police arrested A on an emergency basis after finding bruises on B's body and discovering that he had remotely deleted footage from a home security camera on his phone after she was pronounced dead.

As A left the detention cell at Yongin Dongbu Police Station at around 8:54 a.m. Wednesday, he was asked whether he had any last words for his deceased daughter. "Daddy is so sorry — truly sorry," he said.

During the investigation, police used digital forensics to recover the deleted home camera footage. The restored video reportedly contained sounds consistent with a baby being struck, as well as B's crying.

A's wife was in another room at the time of the assault and was unaware of what was happening, police said. She was not found to have been involved. Investigators also found no evidence of prior abuse or assault before the day of the incident.


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