Baby Killed In Microwave: Ka Yang, California Woman, Arrested

By DON THOMPSON of the Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento police arrested a 29-year-old mother Tuesday after an investigation found her baby likely died from burns suffered in a microwave oven.

Ka Yang was being held without bail in Sacramento County Jail on suspicion of murder and assault resulting in the death of a child.

She was arrested three months after her otherwise healthy 6-week-old daughter, Mirabelle Thao-Lo, was found dead in the family home on March 17.

Police described the child as suffering "extensive thermal injuries." Officer Laura Peck said the arrest took so long because investigators had to pinpoint what they believe is the cause of death by looking for other cases involving similar injuries.

They found three in the U.S., all after children were burned in a microwave: in Dayton, Ohio; Galveston, Texas; and New Kent County, Va.

"This is rare. The injuries were obviously very unique," Peck said. "There have been only three other documented cases in the entire country where the injuries were consistent with this case....Those children were also burned and placed in the microwave."

She said police do not know a motive. She did not believe Yang had an attorney, and none was listed in jail records.

"We wouldn't assess her mental condition. That will be up to the court system," Peck said. "The bottom line is no one knows what happened in that house but her and the little baby."

Yang has three other children, all under age 7, who were removed from the home the day their sister was found dead. They are now living with relatives.

Last month, China Arnold, of Dayton, Ohio, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 2005 microwave murder of her 28-day-old daughter, Paris Talley.

In 2008, Joshua Mauldin, of Galveston, Texas, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for severely burning his 2-month-old daughter in a microwave oven. The girl survived, but suffered second- and third-degree burns to her left ear, cheek, hand and shoulder. Part of her left ear had to be amputated, and she required several skin grafts.

In 2000, a Virginia woman was sentenced to five years in prison for killing her month-old son in a microwave oven. Elizabeth Renee Otte claimed she had no memory of putting her son in the microwave in 1999. Experts testified that Otte suffered from epilepsy and that her seizures were followed by blackouts.

Comments

[crabbyman36]

12:51 PM on 06/25/2011

She was clearly mentally ill, but aren't we all in this new American society. Yes her crime is terrible, but we legally murder over 2,500 children every day and noone sheds a tear for them. They are equally the victims of poor parenting and irresponsible behavior. They are equally tortured and disposed of as trash. So what's the difference? Murder is the taking of innocent human life, so if one is evil so is the other. Just because you are a female doesn't give you the moral authority to kill your children, born or still growing. Shame on us, for we allow this disease of immorality to surround us and we say nothing because we fear that we will be attacked by the left and the media. Well, all that evil needs to endure, is for good people to do nothing. Doesn't that describe the state of our nation. It is illegal to smoke, but killing your child is allowed, funded, and encouraged. God help us.

[Shawn P Williams]

12:43 PM on 06/26/2011

This isn't about abortion...don't bring that up. It's about a mentally ill woman who did a sick thing. And the sad thing is, this baby suffered WAY more horror than an aborted fetus could ever feel.

[crabbyman36]

09:33 PM on 06/26/2011

Since the moderators are no doubt Liberal lackies and won't allow an intelligent discussion. I will respond to your retort by saying that you are wrong, and that killing children regardless of their age is wrong. Anyone who says otherwise is evil themselves and has no right to judge this woman or any other who kills her children. Let the truth be known that America is being judged for the murder of 50 million children, while we fixate on the killing of one. The supporters of abortion are Godless and filled with the lust of Liberal hedonism that encourages this irresponsible and demonic activity displayed in this article.

[ggmmolly01]

01:18 AM on 07/07/2011

Yes, how dare we remind women who choose abortion, what a horrid choice it is. Kuddo's to you crabbyman for speaking out

[Tolms]

02:47 PM on 06/24/2011

It's hard to imagine a more horrible death, it makes me so sad. :( Personally I would feel blessed to have a child, why/how this can happen makes me shake my head.

[Theatrixnyc]

09:33 PM on 06/24/2011

Like a punch in the gut, just reading the headline. I need a drink.

[Megan Engels]

11:00 AM on 06/24/2011

Not excusing the behavior but you can't just call her a monster, because it doesn't change the fact that until something changes with the post natel follow up and care in this country and even in the social fabric as well babies will continue to be killed by the ones who they depend on. 1. there is almost no real follow up, at all no home visits unless a woman will be alone and even then she has to request help. 2. the western world is the only place in the world where a young woman is locked in 4 walls 24 hours a day with 4 kids that young, with no help or community support.3. added to all this is the pressure to be a perfect parent to make everything appear good and normal on the outside and not let anyone in on the fact that you are sinking in deeper and deeper into the mess. These things need to change it's necessary for the children's well being. I think she needs to go to jail and also get the medical treatment she needs. If it was her.

[Sizzzle]

04:40 PM on 06/24/2011

seriously?? enough with the excuses! if you can't handle kids then don't have them. if someone is too weak minded to say that she doesn't want kids or that she needs help, that's not an excuse for murder and child abuse.

[lhanderson86]

08:08 PM on 06/24/2011

Some women don't have a choice. Some women are bound by culture and family, and have no say in the matter.

[timbeaux]

06:31 PM on 06/24/2011

You're right, of course, women have much more freedom in the Islamic world than in the West.

[Hunn40]

06:43 PM on 06/23/2011

She should be burned at the stake.

[crabbyman36]

09:37 PM on 06/26/2011

Killing her will not solve this problem. She should never be allowed to be around hers or any other children, and maybe spend the rest of her life in prison, but let GOD be the taker of life not man, for non of us have clean hands in this vile society.

[Hunn40]

10:14 PM on 06/26/2011

I guess we will have to agree to disagree. She should die for what she did.

[Diogo Marzo]

06:14 PM on 06/23/2011

Seems too easy to just label this as evil and be done with it. Doubtless there is an underlying, serious mental affliction at hand here and if we truly can't stomach this kind of madness then said condition needs to be studied so that someday preventative measures can be put in place. Severe post natal depression perhaps?

[brotherotis]

05:14 PM on 06/23/2011

@lizmckenzie55 responding to your message to me, I completely agree with you, apoligize for both my comment and my momentary lack of taste and compassion, and pledge to be more caring and judicious in the future

[sydneymoon]

03:51 PM on 06/23/2011

This is truly sickening.

[alexacosta]

02:57 PM on 06/23/2011

She should get the death penalty for doing what she did to her baby.

[crabbyman36]

09:39 PM on 06/26/2011

Thou shall not kill, remember that one? An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. You don't have to forgive her, but we don't have to become blood thirsty animals either.

[Armen Manougian]

01:54 PM on 06/23/2011

This is outrageous, they should ban microwaves in the state of California! The Microwave did it so make them all illegal. They should do a back ground check on all microwave purchases in the mean time and only allow them to be used for 10 seconds at a time so these atrocities don't happen again!

[MrTJB]

03:20 PM on 06/23/2011

Too bad we can't ban rhetoric and hyperbole in our fine state. At least then we could be spared from ridiculous comments like yours that fail at attempting to establish a correlation between this crime and what people love to do with their guns.

[pokypaul86]

03:58 PM on 06/23/2011

If a microwave could kill somebody from a distance without having to trap the victim inside you would make perfect sense, but you don't.

[syntax facit saltum]

02:18 PM on 06/23/2011

flagged as hate speech.

[Bob Brown 1969]

07:03 PM on 06/23/2011

Your comment is repugnant

[Carolinahiker]

01:13 PM on 06/23/2011

I can't wrap my head around this one.

[Kim0330]

01:03 PM on 06/23/2011

To kill an innocent baby is sickening! If they find that this woman did do it, I really and truly hope that they give her the worst punishment that they can.

[crabbyman36]

09:52 PM on 06/26/2011

Pray for her soul, for she is a lost person in the darkness of this world. The dead are dead, let's find out what caused this so we can avoid it in the future. Incarcerate and study her, but torturing her will not bring back her child. Do not allow your soul to become polluted with hate and vengence, when the only true way to stop this evil is through love and compassion.

[alyb45]

12:41 PM on 06/23/2011

These women are not sick they're evil.
It's pure evil to put a helpless baby into a microwave. horrible.....

[crabbyman36]

09:45 PM on 06/26/2011

Evil she may be, but her condition is but a symptom of the evil that resides in our social fabric. Think about the 2500 babies we poison and dismember every day--legally, because of a woman's choice. This is just an extension of the immorality we have embraced. Plant a seed and watch the flower bloom.

[Politidelic]

12:40 PM on 06/23/2011

Wish I hadn't even read this! Some sick s**t!

[emrichards]

11:23 AM on 06/23/2011

Well, it isn't certain that the mother did it. Yes, it seems likely but all they've done is arrest her. For all we know it could have been one of the other kids, who didn't know what they were doing.