Warning: This article contains references to suicide and other details which readers may find upsetting.
SINGAPORE: An 18-year-old boy was on Friday (Dec 1) sentenced to 16 years in jail after pleading guilty to killing a fellow River Valley High School student with an axe on campus in 2021.
The youth cannot be named as he committed the offence when he was a minor under the age of 18.
During the hearing, the court lifted the gag order on the identity of the victim at the request of his parents, naming him as Ethan Hun Zhe Kai.
On Jul 19, 2021, the 13-year-old boy was found lying motionless with multiple wounds in a toilet at River Valley High School located in Boon Lay. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The offender, then a 16-year-old Secondary 4 student, admitted to slashing the victim’s head, neck and body with an axe between 11.16am and 11.44am that day.
The students did not know each other. The offender picked the victim “entirely at random” in order to carry out a plan which would result in his own death as the police intervened in a life-threatening situation.
The offender suffered from major depressive disorder at the time and had also watched online videos that desensitised him to the taking of a life, the court heard.
The jail sentence handed down by Justice Hoo Sheau Peng is backdated to the day of his arrest.
She said that while the offender suffered from depression for about six months leading up to the attack, he retained control over his actions and knew that what he intended to do was legally and morally wrong.
The prosecution, which described the case as “truly unprecedented”, had sought 12 to 16 years’ jail for the offender. The defence had asked for five years’ imprisonment.
The offender appeared in court wearing a white T-shirt with his head shaven. He listened quietly to court proceedings, only addressing the court to confirm his plea of guilt and admit to the facts.
His father, mother and brother were present and spoke to him during an adjournment in the hearing, holding his hands through a gap in the divider.
The public gallery was full, with more than 40 people queueing to enter the courtroom before proceedings started.
Ethan’s parents were not in court, but their lawyer Mervyn Cheong was present to observe court proceedings.
In a statement issued through Mr Cheong, the victim’s parents said: “We are heartbroken. We believe many who (know) Ethan will be too.
“Yet, we want to encourage everyone to remember Ethan fondly instead. Remember him for his goodness, his kind heart, and his peace-loving nature. Remember that he would want us to be happy.”
PLAN TO END HIS LIFE
The offender originally faced the capital charge of murder. His charge was reduced in February after the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) assessed that he was suffering from clinical depression at the time of the incident.
According to past court hearings, he was previously seen as a patient at IMH, including after a suicide attempt when he was 14.
Details of the offender’s struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts emerged in court on Friday.
For instance, he watched videos from time to time showing people dying.
In January 2021, he started exploring ways of ending his life.
He formed a plan to attack people at his school as he believed this would result in his own death as the police intervened. He wrote two poems and conducted multiple internet searches related to the plan.
In March and April 2021, he bought a knife and two axes, including the one eventually used in the killing.
THE FATAL ATTACK
On the day of the attack, the offender brought the weapons to school concealed in a badminton bag and hid them in a male toilet.
He used caution tape to cordon off the corridor leading to the toilet, so that students would not enter it.
After attending classes until about 11.15am, he went to the toilet and waited for the students inside to leave. He then closed the toilet door and windows to prevent screams from being heard.
When Ethan went in at around 11.30am, the offender briefly left the toilet to reattach the caution tape before attacking Ethan from behind.
AFTER THE ATTACK
The offender said he felt “catharsis and regret” after the killing.
At about 11.35am, he left the toilet with the axe. He asked a few groups of students to call the police, but they ran away from him.
A few minutes later, he was approached by a female teacher and dropped the axe as he was told. She kicked the weapon away from him.