Fort Lee Man Pleads Guilty in Death of Infant Son, to be Sentenced in May
HACKENSACK, N.J. (March 20 , 2017) — Yoseop Choi, the Fort Lee father who took his critically injured son all the way to Bellevue Hospital for treatment after he beat him and the child went into cardiac arrest, pleaded guilty Monday to first degree aggravated manslaughter and will be sentenced May 19 by Presiding Criminal Court Judge Margaret M. Foti.
Senior Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Danielle Grootenboer, chief of the Homicide Unit, told Attorney Weekly she will recommend a sentence of 30 years in state prison for Choi, 39, which is what he bargained for. The state No Early Release act applies, which means Choi must serve at least 25-½ years before he is eligible for parole.
When Choi brought his five-month old son, Liam, to Bellevue July 28, 2015 the child was in critical condition because he had been violently shaken and punched, authorities said at the time. Medical testing showed the baby had a severe head injury and a healing rib fracture. The New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency alerted the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit, and Choi was arrested for child abuse.
Investigation showed the child had been beaten on several occasions over at least two months, authorities said. The child lived for about a week, but was taken off life support Aug. 6, 2015 and died. At that time, Choi’s charges were upgraded to aggravated manslaughter, two counts of aggravated assault and two counts endangering the welfare of a child.
A Go Fund Me page started by friends of Choi and his wife raised a total of $3,340 toward a goal of half a million.
Choi’s attorney, Anthony Iacullo of Clifton, said at the time he was “grief stricken” over the baby’s death.
He has been in jail on $1 million bail since the charges were upgraded.
