A 15-year-old girl killed her grandfather in their Bukit Batok flat before taking her own life in an unlawful killing, a coroner’s court found on Wednesday. Mr Teo An Nee, 84, was found dead with stab wounds on Jun 23, 2022. His granddaughter, Ms Ellis Teo, was discovered on a grass patch several blocks away that same day.
The investigation revealed that there was no third party involved in the incident. Ms Teo lived with her parents and paternal grandfather in the flat at Block 363, Bukit Batok Street 31. On the day of the killing, her parents were at work while the grandfather was seen on police cameras heading home at about 2.30pm.
At around 5pm, Ms Teo was captured on surveillance cameras leaving the block with a plaster on her left hand. Records from the public transport card operator EZ-Link showed that she took a train and then walked to another location where she later jumped to her death.
Ms Teo had made two phone calls to her mother before her death, during which she expressed her unwillingness to go home and confessed to doing something that would anger her mother. Although her mother found it strange, she did not know what had transpired.
When Ms Teo’s mother returned home at around 5.30pm, she found the family dog with blood on its mouth. Upon further investigation, she discovered her father-in-law covered in blood, lying near the toilet. A knife was found nearby. An autopsy revealed that Mr Teo had sustained at least seven stab wounds.
The police found evidence of Ms Teo’s struggles with mental health and suicidal thoughts in her diary, which was discovered in her room after the incident. The diary did not indicate any ill intentions towards her grandfather, but it did mention difficulties in communication due to language barriers.
Despite suggestions from friends that Ms Teo had expressed suicidal thoughts, her parents were not aware of this and did not suspect anything was wrong. The police were unable to determine the exact motive behind the attack and were unable to shed light on what occurred between Mr Teo and his granddaughter.
Throughout the investigation, the family members of the deceased maintained their disinterest in attending the coroner’s inquiry. As the case concluded, the court acknowledged that both deaths were a result of an unlawful killing and the girl’s subsequent suicide.
While the exact motives and details remain unclear, this tragic incident serves as a reminder of the importance of mental health awareness and support within families and communities. It highlights the need for open communication and understanding to identify and address the struggles faced by individuals, especially those dealing with mental health issues.
