Every major event leading up to conviction of Coventry baby killer Jia Xin Teo

A Coventry woman has been jailed for murdering her newborn baby in a case that was described by a judge as 'tragic.' Jia Xin Teo had been expecting the child when she travelled from Malaysia to study at Coventry University.

Teo, 22, arrived in the UK earlier this year, concealed her pregnancy, and gave birth to a full-term baby girl on March 4. She placed her in a Cornflakes box, which she put inside a sealable plastic bag and then into a suitcase, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Concerns were raised for the child, but by the time her little body was discovered two days later, the baby was dead. Teo denied murdering her baby and said she had been 'hearing voices' that told her to kill the child.

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However, a jury at Warwick Crown Court rejected that defence and found her guilty of murder on October 24. She was sentenced a day later and handed life imprisonment, to serve a minimum of 17 years, the CPS said. CoventryLive has compiled a full timeline of the events leading up to the conviction of Jia Xin Teo.

Timeline

June 2023: Ms Teo fell pregnant in or around June 2023. She was 21 years old, and the father of her child was her boyfriend of three years, Mrs Justice Tipples said.

Ms Teo was studying at the Malaysia University of Technology and decided to take an opportunity to participate in an exchange programme with Coventry University, which began in January 2024.

December 2023: On December 12, 2023, Ms Teo bought a flight to England. She was pregnant at the time and had been wearing baggy clothes to disguise the changes to her body, Mrs Justice Tipples said.

January 2024: Ms Teo arrived in England on January 9, 2024, with a return flight to Malaysia booked for May 17. She was seven months pregnant at this point and had begun studying at Coventry University.

Ms Teo did not seek any antenatal support in relation to her pregnancy and failed to seek any other medical advice, Mrs Justice Tipples said. She had not made 'any preparations for the arrival of a baby into her life.'

March 3: Contractions started with Mrs Justice Tipples saying she believed Ms Teo 'knew what they were and that she would at some point soon give birth to her child.' Ms Teo lied to her friends and told them that she was feeling unwell with a heavy period.

11.30am on March 4: Baby Teo was born on Raglan Street in Coventry. Apart from her mother, Ms Teo, no one else knew she existed.

Mrs Justice Tipples said the birth was 'not straightforward' but complicated by 'significant blood loss.' She said Ms Teo was in considerable pain, weak and exhausted, and struggling to stand, describing the experience as 'highly traumatic and stressful.'

12.35pm on March 4: Baby Teo was said to be 'alive and well', but Ms Teo cut the umbilical cord with a pair of scissors, and the newborn soon started crying. She texted her friend to ask for 'medication to replenish blood' and just over an hour later sent her an image in which she looked 'very unwell.'

2pm on March 4: Friends ordered Red Bean Soup, which they took to Ms Teo and handed to her through the door, Mrs Justice Tipples said. Ms Teo would not let them in, but they could see her crouched on the ground and looking 'very unhealthy.'

As her friends were worried, they got more food for Ms Teo, but the 22-year-old told them to 'go away.' Eventually, they managed to open the door and were 'shocked' by the amount of blood they saw, Mrs Justice Tipples said.

Ms Teo had shut herself in the bathroom and was sitting on the floor against the door, the baby with her still alive, Mrs Justice Tipples said. Water was running from the bathroom tap, which had been turned on to hide any sounds of the baby crying. She maintained that the blood loss was the result of a period and refused to come out of the bathroom, shouting 'go away.'

3.45pm on March 4: Staff at Coventry University dialled 999. Paramedics attended and offered to assist Ms Teo, but she refused to come out of the bathroom or be treated, and they left at around 4pm.

Baby Teo was still alive at this point and on the bathroom floor, but Ms Teo wanted all of the people who had come to help her out of her bedroom so that she could get rid of the baby and attempt to clean up the bathroom, Mrs Justice Tipples said.

Around 4pm on March 4: Ms Teo murdered her newborn child. She put her in a Cornflakes box, which was placed inside a sealable plastic bag.

She then put that bag into her suitcase, with Mrs Justice Tipples saying that 'by sealing that plastic bag, your baby would certainly die, and you thought that, by hiding her body in a cereal packet in your luggage, no one would ever find her body.'

Around 6pm on March 4: Ms Teo was in bed, with the dead baby 'well and truly out of sight,' Mrs Justice Tipples said. Staff made arrangements to move her to a new room, and later that evening, she set off for that new room, with the suitcase containing young Teo.

Ms Teo was admitted to the hospital that evening and immediately given a blood transfusion, Mrs Justice Tipples said. Doctors were unable to make sense of the history the 22-year-old had given them and her constantly denying having given birth to baby Teo.

March 6: Ms Teo had an intimate examination on March 6, where Mrs Justice Tipples said it became 'obvious' what had happened. Police were called that afternoon, and Ms Teo admitted that she had given birth to a baby and told them where she could be found.

Evening of March 6: Baby Teo was found dead in a suitcase at an address on Raglan Street. She had died by asphyxiation, Mrs Justice Tipples said.

October 24: Jia Xin Teo was convicted unanimously by a jury of murdering baby Teo. James Leslie Francis, from the Crown Prosecution Service, thanked the jury for their 'careful consideration' in what he described as a 'complex and sensitive case.'

October 25: Teo was sentenced to life imprisonment to serve a minimum of 17 years at Warwick Crown Court.

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