Orchard Towers murder only female accused's murder charge reduced to assault

The representing lawyer said this is an appropriate charge for Siow.

Zhangxin Zheng | October 18, 2019, 06:57 PM

A 31-year-old man was murdered in Orchard Towers, where his throat was slit on July 2, 2019.

Six men and one woman were charged with murder on July 4.

The accused are:

Tan Sen Yang, 27,

Loo Boon Chong, 25,

Tan Hong Seng, 22,

Joel Tan Yun Sheng, 26,

Chan Jia Xing, 26,

Ang Da Yuan, 26, and

Natalie Siow Yu Zhen, 23.

The charges against the trio, Tan Hong Sheng, 22, Chan Jia Xing, 26 and Loo Boon Chong, 25, were later reduced.

Siow's murder charge reduced to assault

In the latest development, the murder charge against the sole woman and the youngest of all, 23-year-old Siow, was also reduced to an assault on Oct. 18, 2019.

Siow burst into tears upon knowing that she had been cleared of a charge that was punishable by death, according to the Straits Times.

This update came more than three months after she was charged with murder.

Siow did not know why she was called back to court on Friday.

Her amended charge now states that she had kicked and punched the victim together with the trio who still face the murder charge.

Offenders convicted of assault can be jailed for up to two years and fined up to S$5,000.

Siow is represented by Amarick Gill of Amarick Gill LLC and Cheryl Ng of Intelleigen Legal.

Gill shared with ST that Siow is "elated" and "looking forward to going home".

He added that this is "the appropriate charge" for Siow.

Siow was offered bail of S$15,000 and will return to court on Oct. 25.

All other six accused have their cases pending too.

Recap

Tan Hong Seng, 22, Loo Boon Chong, 25, and Chan Jia Xing, 26, were initially out on bail, but Tan later jumped bail only to end up back in custody.

Tan Sen Yang, 27, Joel Tan Yun Sheng, 26, and Ang Da Yuan, 26 are the only ones left charged with murder.