Mother convicted of manslaughter for stabbing daughter to death in Hong Kong

A mother has been convicted of manslaughter for stabbing her daughter to death at a Hong Kong public rental flat four years ago under the delusion that she had to kill the victim to protect her son.

Part-time security guard Yang Leying, 50, pleaded guilty at the High Court on Tuesday after prosecutors agreed to reduce her original murder charge on the basis that she was suffering from an abnormality of mind when she fatally assaulted her 24-year-old daughter Chen Lianqin on December 6, 2021.

Prosecutors said the city’s mental health service became aware of Yang around 2007 and 2008 when she was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

The mother moved to Hong Kong from her native Hunan province after receiving the right of abode in the city at about the same period.

The defendant had lived in a flat in Wong Tai Sin’s Tsz Ching Estate since 2019 with her daughter, whom she had given birth to during a previous relationship in mainland China. Her ex-husband, who died in October 2021, and younger son lived in Ho Man Tin.

Yang’s neighbours were awakened by a woman’s scream for help after the defendant brandished a knife at Chen at around 3am on December 6, 2021.