NJ mom charged with killing kids will remain jailed: 'The facts are particularly horrific'
SOMERVILLE – The Montgomery women accused of murdering her two children in Hillsborough last week will remain in the Somerset County Jail pending her trial.
Yuhwei Chou sat still and expressionless in a video room at the jail during a detention hearing before Superior Court Judge Peter Tober Tuesday morning.
Tober, in ordering no release for Chou, said "the facts are particularly horrific in this case."
Chou, who wore glasses throughout the virtual proceeding, spoke only a few times during the 15-minute hearing, saying she was not a United States citizen, but a Taiwanese citizen. She also said "thank you" at the end of the hearing.
Though Chou has no criminal record, earlier this year she faced a domestic violence charge stemming from an act of harassment, the judge said. The matter was resolved, the judge said, and no other details were given.
Chou has been charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of her children, 7-year-old Samantha Ross and 11-month-old Paul Ross. Paul would have celebrated his first birthday on Dec. 6.
READ: Montgomery father wants slain children remembered in life, not 'inexplicable' deaths
READ: Montgomery mom charged with murdering kids planned killings for a week, affidavit says
Chou, 36, told police after her arrest that she killed the children on Nov. 8, according to an affidavit of probable cause obtained by MyCentralJersey.com, and had been planning the kills for a week.
Chou said she drove to Wawa for lunch and then to a True Value hardware store where she bought duct tape and zip ties, according to the affidavit.
She then drove to a sports facility on Mountainview Road in Hillsborough where she began to put duct tape on her daughter's face, but she became "spooked" by a bystander in the park, the affidavit says.
She then drove along Mountainview Road and parked in a hunting area with a dirt driveway on the side of the road before she climbed into the backseat and zip tied her daughter's hands and duct taped her face along with her son's face, according to the affidavit.
Chou used her hands to suffocate both victims until they were dead, the affidavit says.
Around 7:41 a.m. Nov. 9, a witness spotted a gray Toyota Corolla in a ditch on Mountainview Road. The witness spoke with the driver, identified as Chou, whose hands were zip tied to the steering wheel, according to the affidavit.
The witness also saw the children were in car seats in the rear of the vehicle with their faces duct taped and their hands zip tied, the affidavit says.
The witness told another witness to call 911. When police arrived, Chou said she had zip tied herself to the steering wheel and duct taped herself, according to the affidavit.
No motive has been given for the killings.
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com
Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Montgomery NJ mom charged with murdering children will remain in jail
