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| The flowerbed where the "cat lady" death happened, in red circle, is seen from the rooftop of an apartment building in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. / Yonhap |
By Kim Se-jeong
A 9-year-old boy turned out to be the prime suspect in the case of the "cat lady," a woman killed by a falling brick while making a shelter for stray cats at an apartment complex in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, earlier this month.
According to officials at the Yongin Seobu Police Station, Friday, the boy, whose name was withheld, was doing a scientific experiment on gravity with two of his schoolmates and dropped the brick from the roof of an apartment building not realizing the woman was working down below in the flowerbed.
Police said the suspect confessed to what happened.
"We believe that it was not a homicide against the animal-loving woman as we previously suspected, but it was an accident involving a curious schoolboy," an officer said in a media briefing.
According to the police, the three children spotted a brick at a corner of the apartment rooftop and it was dropped off the side off the side to see how long it would take for a descending brick to hit the ground.
"It is not clear when they learned about the woman's death, as the boys gave different accounts. We still need to talk to them," the officer said.
After the death was reported, the boys kept what they knew a secret, including not telling anything to their parents. The truth came out when police visited the boy's home for questioning on Thursday evening.
The police identified the suspect after reviewing surveillance camera footage recorded near the apartment rooftop. They also obtained a footprint from the rooftop which turned out to be identical to that of the boy.
But the boy may avoid any legal punishment because he is too young to be charged. According to criminal law, those under 14 years of age cannot be punished, even if they commit a crime on purpose. But the boy and his parents may face a compensation suit from the victim's family.
Still, some on the Internet and social media outlets are calling for punishment of the boy. "Being young doesn't make a criminal innocent. The boy deserves to be punished," one Internet user wrote.
The incident took place on Oct. 8 when the brick fell on the head of the 55-year-old woman, surnamed Park, and killed her. A woman who was helping her make the shelter for stray cats was also injured.
Facing a dead end in their investigation, police distributed fliers with photos of the brick used in the incident and questioned residents of the building. Police also sought a forensic analysis of the brick for any evidence linked to the suspect, but came up with nothing.
Initially considered as a "hate crime" against the "cat lady," the incident spurred a public debate on street cat management. It also created fear among animal lovers about being targets of crimes.
