Vietnamese woman was prosecuted for leaving her 3-year-old child alone in a hotel, leading to her death

China A woman surnamed Wang was prosecuted for involuntary manslaughter after letting her 3-year-old son sleep alone in the room while she went out to eat and drink with friends.

At around 11 p.m. on October 6, 2025, Ms. Vuong put her 3-year-old son to sleep and left him alone on the bed in the hotel room on the 5th floor before going out.

According to the newly announced verdict, the People's Procuracy of Co Thuy district (Ha Nam province) accused Vuong of knowing that the room's windows could not be locked and posed a potential safety risk but still did not fulfill his duty of care, instead locking the door and leaving the child alone in the room. Vuong also did not ask anyone else to take care of his child, but went with a friend to a bar to drink, then continued to a restaurant to eat.

At about 2 a.m. the next morning, the boy fell from the 5th floor window sill to the ground. Even though he was given first aid, the boy did not survive.

The Judicial Examination Center concluded that the cause of the victim's death was multiple injuries, mainly serious injuries to the chest, abdomen and pelvis due to falling from a height.

After being called by the police to summon him to work, Vuong honestly confessed all his actions. The mother was prosecuted for unintentional death.

Vuong did not object to the alleged details, the crime or the penalty proposed by the prosecution.

The defense attorney said that in essence, this was a family accident that led to tragedy. Vuong's initial intention of locking the door and leaving for a short time was to protect the sleeping child. The boy waking up in the middle of the night and falling from the 5th floor is said to be the result of many random situations with an extremely low probability of happening but happening at the same time. Meanwhile, the risk of unsafety at the hotel comes from structural defects that are difficult to detect.

The lawyer asked the court to consider mitigating circumstances for Vuong, including confessing, voluntarily admitting guilt and accepting the penalty, and receiving forgiveness from the victim's father; At the same time, he said that Vuong was a first-time offender, committed the crime due to unexpected circumstances, and had no criminal record or previous violations.

From there, the lawyer proposed to reduce the penalty and give Vuong a suspended sentence.

The People's Court of Co Thuy district found Vuong guilty of unintentionally causing death, sentenced him to 3 years in prison but suspended the sentence for 4 years.