8-month-old baby shook & smothered to death in S'pore: Mum, 23, gets 15 years & 3 months, dad, 27, gets 16 years

A Singaporean couple has been sentenced to jail on Oct. 21, 2026, for causing the death of their eight-month-old baby.

Chloe Gan Ci Xuan, 23, was sentenced to 15 years and 3 months in jail, while Neo Jia Ming, 27, was sentenced to 16 years in jail.

The couple smothered and shook their son, Trevor Neo, to stop him from crying for almost the entirety of his life.

This eventually led to baby Trevor's death on Sep. 2, 2024, after Gan suffocated him again using her hands and flipped him in his cot.

Neo did not do anything to stop this ill-treatment.

The couple previously pleaded guilty on Oct. 12 to various charges linked to the death of their son.

Gan was seen crying in court on Oct. 21 as the judge read out the sentences.

Judgment

The case was presided over by High Court Justice Hoo Sheau Peng.

The judge also presided over the case of four-year-old Megan Khung, who died at the hands of her mother, Foo Li Ping and Foo's boyfriend.

Calling the case tragic, Hoo compared Gan’s actions to Foo's.

Trevor spent nearly the entirety of his life enduring abuse before losing his life, Hoo noted.

Hoo said the couple was overwhelmed by the task of taking care of the baby and was not overly prepared for parenthood.

However, the judge noted that the couple seemed well supported by family members, adding that Gan moved back with her parents during her confinement period.

They also engaged a nanny to take care of Trevor on weekdays and relatives helped on weekends.

Neo’s two uncles living in the same flat also took care of Trevor on one occasion while the couple went out for dinner.

The couple was not left on their own, Hoo said.

Notwithstanding their "youth and inexperience", they must be held accountable for their actions, the judge said.

She also explained that while Neo did not cause baby Trevor's eventual death, he was the first to begin shaking him to lose consciousness, and Gan followed suit.

What couple did

The couple got married in August 2023 and Gan gave birth to Trevor on Dec. 9, 2023.

Soon after, Gan realised she could make Trevor stop crying or lose consciousness by shaking him vigorously after seeing Neo do so.

The couple took to shaking him frequently to stop him from crying.

At one point, Trevor had to be hospitalised for a week after he lost consciousness from the shaking.

Day of fatal abuse

On Sep. 1, 2024, the couple left the baby in Neo's uncles' care while they went for dinner.

The couple came back around 8pm and left Trevor in his cot while they used their phones in the room.

At one point, Trevor started to cry, and Gan went over to his cot frustrated as she could not sleep.

She started to press a blanket over his face for close to a minute until Trevor twitched and slowed down.

However, he started to cry again when she lifted her hands.

Gan then continued pressing the blanket over the baby's face and repeated the action about three to four times until she felt her arm trembling.

As she did so, Neo asked her, "How? You want the baby to die? If anything happens, we will go to jail."

Gan replied: "Wait for the baby to make noise first, then you try again."

Pounded on the baby with hand

A minute later, the baby started to cry again, and Gan went over to the cot.

She then covered his face with both hands and pressed down hard, repeatedly pounding one hand over the other.

The prosecutor said Gan did so until she felt her hands losing strength.

At 11:30pm, Neo finished playing his mobile phone game and went to check on the baby.

He realised that Trevor was not breathing and his hands were cold, and woke Gan up to check on him.

Gan went over to Trevor and found him with purple lips and one eye open.

She started to pat him on the back, and the couple later attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the baby but to no avail.

They called a taxi to go to the hospital as Neo did not want to incur the costs of calling an ambulance.

On the way to the hospital, Neo told Gan to keep quiet and "not say anything".

If the police did not get involved, they could continue living their lives and not worry about money anymore, Neo said.

Trevor was later pronounced dead at about 12:20am on Sep. 2, 2024, at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH).

A nurse lodged a police report saying the baby died under suspicious circumstances.

The couple was arrested that same morning.

Gan is represented by lawyers Josephus Tan and Cory Wong from Invictus Law, while Neo is represented by Johannes Hadi and Seraphine Loh Tian Hui from Eugene Thuraisingam Asia LLC.