SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Two sisters accused of neglecting their elderly mother, who died at their University City apartment after she became wedged against a sleeper sofa's bed frame, were ordered today to stand trial on a murder charge.
Ingrid Wu, 52, and Rebecca Wu, 53, acted as caretakers for their
parents: 81-year-old Kun Ying Yang and their 89-year-old father, neither of
whom could care for themselves, according to police and prosecutors.
Officers and paramedics responded to the defendants' Genesee Avenue apartment on March 6 and found Yang unresponsive on a pull-out couch.
According to testimony from a preliminary hearing held over three days, first responders found Yang bent over the metal frame of the sofa,
hanging upside down in the gap between the mattress and the couch's backrest.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
A medical examiner ruled Yang's cause of death was prolonged positional asphyxia, and the manner of death was homicide, according to testimony.
An injury discovered across her abdomen was consistent with the shape and size of the metal bar of the bed frame, which was pressing up against her body and caused her to suffocate, Deputy District Attorney Scott Pirrello argued on Thursday.
Prosecutors allege the sisters left Yang in that position for about 18 hours before summoning help, though defense attorneys for the women disputed how long Yang was in that position and argued the sisters made multiple attempts to extricate their mother before calling 911.
Ingrid Wu told police she first saw her mother lying with her head close to the gap at about 5:30 a.m. and tried to move her without success.
She then left home for work after informing Rebecca Wu to move Yang out of the position. Rebecca Wu told police she tried several times to move her mother, but Yang resisted her efforts, then progressively sank further and further into the gap over the course of the day.
Ingrid Wu arrived back at the home at around 8:30 p.m., at which point the sisters tried again to move their mother. They made a final attempt just before midnight, then called 911.
Defense attorneys argued the sisters didn't realize the gravity of the situation and thus did not consciously disregard the risk to Yang's life,
as required for second-degree murder.
The attorneys cited multiple statements the sisters made immediately
after Yang's death in which they expressed their shock that the situation
proved fatal.
Both Ingrid's attorney, Abram Genser, and Rebecca's attorney, Ally Gibney, said the sisters made earnest attempts to move Yang, but she resisted, which they argued was a common occurrence whenever the women tried to feed, bathe, or otherwise care for their mother.
The attorneys also argued that the women believed their attempts to move Yang were causing her pain and discomfort.
But Judge Alana Robinson ruled the sisters had a legal duty to care for Yang and failed to intervene by not seeking help earlier.
She said the sisters' numerous attempts to move their mother showed they were aware her positioning on the sofa was dangerous.
The judge also said the sisters knew they should have called 911
sooner and pointed to testimony from a Mandarin-speaking SDPD officer who reviewed body worn camera footage that captured the sisters speaking to one another. In that conversation, Ingrid told Rebecca they should have called 911 immediately, and Rebecca agreed they should have called 911 after they couldn't pull Yang out, the judge said.
"The failure to call 911 at a time when 911 could have helped their mother get out of the position that caused her death was the cause of Ms.
Yang's death,'' Robinson said.
The Wu sisters were arrested in June.
Along with murder, the women were initially charged with elder abuse in connection with their father, but prosecutors announced Thursday that they would be dismissing that count.
Their father has since been moved to a long-term care facility, and temporary restraining orders have been put in place prohibiting the sisters from contacting him.
