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Teacher accused of killing 7-year-old student taken off ventilator, but questioning yet to restart

Published: 25 Feb. 2025, 16:08 Updated: 25 Feb. 2025, 19:02

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

Citizens pay respects to 7-year-old Kim Ha-neul, who died on Feb. 10 in a suspected homicide, at an elementary school in Daejeon on Feb. 13. [YONHAP]

The teacher who admitted to stabbing 7-year-old Kim Ha-neul to death is in stable condition after having her ventilator finally removed, Daejeon police said Tuesday, more than two weeks after the incident.

Though the condition of the suspect in her 40s has improved, a face-to-face investigation hasn't restarted as she has yet to be moved to a general ward from intensive care, according to the Daejeon West Police Precinct’s dedicated investigation team on Tuesday.

The investigation team regularly checks the teacher’s condition and will determine with doctors when a face-to-face investigation becomes possible.

The teacher, who severed blood vessels in her neck with a knife at the scene of Kim's murder immediately after the crime, was transferred to a nearby hospital and underwent surgery. She had since relied on a ventilator to breathe.

At around 5:50 p.m. on Feb. 10, the teacher and the victim, Kim Ha-nuel, were found in an audiovisual room at an elementary school in Daejeon.

Kim, who suffered stab wounds to her hands and arms, was taken to a local hospital but eventually died.

Although investigators questioned the teacher one week after her surgery, face-to-face interviews were suspended indefinitely after her blood pressure rose.

Instead, the investigation team has focused on determining whether the crime was premeditated through collected evidence and digital forensics.

Police plan to execute an arrest warrant once the teacher sufficiently recovers.

“The suspect is hospitalized in the intensive care unit, and we are closely monitoring her health,” a police officer from the Daejeon West Police Precinct said. “Conducting a direct investigation is hard as she hasn't been moved to a general ward.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]