Mom Convicted Of Killing Autistic Daughter Must Serve 10 Years Before Parole Eligibility

It was a terrible crime against an innocent young child and the punishment was never really in doubt. And on Friday, 36-year-old Xuan Linda Peng officially heard it pronounced by a judge. The mother, who was found guilty of drowning her autistic child in her bathtub back in July 2004, was sentenced to life in prison.

She was convicted of second-degree murder earlier this month, after Scarlett Chen’s father found the four-year-old unconscious in the bathroom of the couple’s Markham and Sheppard Ave. home. 

She told the court she simply put the little girl down for a nap and that the curious youngster had crawled into the water-filled tub without her knowledge. He husband also insisted it was an accident. But the jury believed the Crown’s contention that Peng decided to kill the girl after learning her condition was irreversible.

“Scarlett was a vulnerable little girl given her age and her autism, she could not speak,” declared Crown attorney Kim Motyl. “Peng should have protected Scarlett instead she ended her child’s life in the bathtub.”

Peng’s husband David Chen is standing by her. He believes his wife is innocent.

“I feel so painful, so painful,” he said. “I could not understand why, you know, the jury came up with this verdict. It’s completely a surprise to me.”

Chen told the court that his wife was a loving and devoted mother, who ran the water in the tub to do some laundry. But the Crown said that she killed her daughter in a moment of frustration and it feels the sentence was the right one.

Her lawyer maintains his client is innocent, despite the guilty verdict. “Ms. Peng loved Scarlett,” insists John Mann. “She misses Scarlett every day.”

“The defence has always maintained that this was an accident. Obviously the jury’s verdict indicates that they felt otherwise,” counters Catharine Wells, another one of Peng’s attorneys.

Peng was sent to prison despite claims that she had unspecified health issues that may have included bi-polar disorder. Mann had requested that she be allowed to serve her time in a mental institution. But the judge decided to send her to jail instead, and both the Crown and the defence agreed she would be required to serve a minimum term of 10 years before she’s eligible for parole.

Before Peng was lead away in  handcuffs, Chen was able to talk to her.

“I told her I’m not going to give up. We are going to fight for her until she is acquitted.”

The dead girl’s grandmother joined Chen in maintaining Peng’s innocence. Her lawyers have 30 days to launch their appeal and have said it will not be related to her mental health.