Jia Xin Teo: University student from Malaysia jailed for murder of newborn found in cereal box

Jia Xin Teo, who arrived to the UK from Malaysia earlier this year to study at Coventry University, concealed her pregnancy and gave birth to a full-term baby on March 4, 2024.

The 22-year-old placed the baby in a cereal box, then inside a sealable plastic bag and then into a suitcase. By the time police discovered her little body two days later, the baby was dead.

Teo denied murdering her baby and said she had been hearing voices which told her to kill the baby, however the jury rejected that defence and found her guilty of murder. She was sentenced on Friday (October 25) at Warwick Crown Court to life imprisonment, to serve a minimum of 17 years.

James Leslie Francis, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Jia Xin Teo hid her pregnancy from everyone she knew and arrived in the UK knowing that she was likely to give birth here. She had opportunity to seek help but instead chose to carry her pregnancy in secret and give birth alone.

“After she gave birth, she still did not tell anybody and refused to go to the hospital to get checked. She lied to friends who cared about her, to doctors at the hospital and to the police so that no one found her baby. She did not tell the police where she hid her baby until two days had passed by which time the baby would certainly be dead.

“Baby Teo was alive after birth and could have survived but Jia Xin Teo made the decision to place her inside a cereal box knowing that it would kill her. Today, the jury have made the decision to convict her for her actions and I would like to thank the jury for their careful consideration in this complex and sensitive case.”