Quincy's Shu Feng Hsu was accused of killing her baby niece. Here's what the jury decided

DEDHAM – The Quincy woman accused of killing her baby niece has been convicted of manslaughter by a Norfolk County jury, a lesser offense than the charge of murder sought by state prosecutors.

Jurors deliberated for two and a half days in the case, which saw Shu Feng Hsu charged with murder in the 2018 death of 11-month-old Chloe Chen. She will be sentenced at 9 a.m. Thursday, March 30.

A total of 24 witnesses took the stand over the course of a nine-day trial. Closing arguments were given Wednesday morning and jurors started deliberating that afternoon. Hsu, who attended the trial and was assisted by Mandarin interpreters, did not testify in her own defense.

Hsu was accused of beating her niece, Chloe, so severely that she bruised the baby's face and head and caused brain damage that ultimately led to her death in February 2018.

Hsu was initially arraigned in Quincy District Court on March 22, 2018 − five years to the day before closing arguments were given at her trial. She was arraigned on charges of assault and battery on a child causing serious bodily injury. When the state medical examiner determined that a blunt-force head injury caused Chloe's death, the charges against Hsu were upgraded to murder and her bail was revoked. She has been in jail since.

More: Whatever happened to plans for a 'justice center' in downtown Quincy?

'Ruth Gordon is Quincy': Residents unite to save amphitheater amid demolition threat

At the time of the baby's death, Hsu was living at 34 Sewall St. in Quincy. Police say Hsu was home alone with her infant niece when she called 911 and said the baby had gone limp and was not responsive.

As an ambulance took the baby to Boston Medical Center, Chloe suffered multiple seizures, police said. She died two days later from what doctors described as brain injuries and bleeding in her brain.

Police reviewed more than 100 hours of footage from several surveillance cameras inside the home but none of them showed the room where Hsu was alone with the baby for about two hours.

Though police were not been able to retrieve video footage of the baby’s room, they do have audio recordings from nearby cameras that picked up noises from it. The recordings were played for the jury.

The baby cried for much of the time Hsu was alone with her, police say, until an adult entered the room and the camera picked up a “distinctive dull thump” that police say they did not hear in any of the other many hours of recording they listened to.

“A second thump radiates through the building structure” two seconds later, State Trooper Yuriy Bukhenik wrote in his report. That was followed by 10 more thumps every few seconds, police said. About 13 seconds after the last one, the crying stopped.

Quincy: Father Bill's pushes back opening of new homeless shelter; need higher than ever

The doctor who performed the autopsy said it appeared “a strike, or a form of impact” caused the injuries.

Hsu's defense attorney, Debra Dewitt, said the thumps could have been attributed to any number of things, and called it "guesswork and speculation" that prosecutors claimed they were the sound of Hsu hurting baby Chloe.

Assistant District Attorney Lisa Beatty said doctors testified that Chloe Chen's injuries were caused by "abusive head trauma," and suggested Hsu was overwhelmed by the baby's crying when the injuries occurred.

Jurors were tasked with finding Hsu either not guilty, or guilty of murder in the first degree, murder in the second degree or manslaughter, the lesser of the three charges. Judge Douglas Wilkins presided over the trial.

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Patriot Ledger subscription. Here is our latest offer. 

Reach Mary Whitfill at mwhitfill@patriotledger.com

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Quincy's Shu Feng Hsu faces murder charge in death of baby Chloe Chen