‘He always wanted hugs’: Baby Trevor’s family in shock over his fatal abuse by parents

Baby Trevor’s parents Neo Jia Ming and Chloe Gan Ci Xuan were sentenced to 16 years’ jail and 15 years and three months’ jail respectively on Oct 21.

ST ILLUSTRATIONS: BRYANDT LIN

Published Oct 21, 2026, 02:56 PM

Updated Oct 21, 2026, 02:56 PM

Neo Jia Ming, 27, and Chloe Gan Ci Xuan, 23, were jailed for fatally abusing their 8-month-old son Trevor, who died in September 2024 after months of abuse.

Neo’s family said they were in shock and could not accept the case, as they had seen him as a hardworking father and Gan as soft-spoken and devoted.

Court papers said the couple shook, smothered and hit Trevor, and joked about brain damage; Neo also abused Gan, and both pleaded guilty on Oct 12.

SINGAPORE - The family of a man who was sentenced to jail with his wife over the fatal abuse of their 8-month-old son is still struggling to reconcile the details of the case with the young father they thought they knew.

To his mother and his older sister, Neo Jia Ming, 27, was a hardworking father who juggled jobs to support his young family, while his wife, Chloe Gan Ci Xuan, 23, was soft-spoken. The couple appeared devoted to each other and did not show any of the abusive behaviour revealed in court documents.

On Oct 21, Neo was sentenced to 16 years’ jail while Gan was sentenced to 15 years and three months’ jail. They had smothered, shaken and hit their baby Trevor Neo, who died in September 2024 after enduring abuse for most of his short life.

The married couple had on Oct 12 each pleaded guilty to three charges relating to Trevor’s abuse . Neo also had a domestic abuse charge for assaulting Gan multiple times.

Speaking to reporters at the High Court after sentencing on Oct 21 , Neo’s mother and elder sister described their shock and disbelief at what had happened.

“It doesn’t seem like what my brother would do. Till now, I’m still not able to accept it,” said Neo’s sister, a 29-year-old professional in the automobile industry who only wanted to be known by her surname.

Their mother, 64, who only gave her surname as Koh, said she had told her son to marry Gan after the girl became pregnant, as she felt he should take responsibility for the child.

The young couple, she recalled, tried to find information on parenting to prepare for Trevor’s arrival.

Neo worked to provide for his family by working as a food delivery rider and pet groomer. Gan was also a pet groomer who quit after her confinement period , said Neo’s sister.

His sister helped out by buying milk powder and diapers and sometimes transferred Neo money when he asked . But she otherwise thought he was “quite self-sufficient”.

The couple did not mention any struggles when they occasionally brought Trevor to family dinners.

“They only said they were tired,” said Koh.

Baby always wanted hugs

Koh, who works at an Hougang coffeeshop, said she saw her grandson “only occasionally” due to her and her son’s conflicting work schedules.

She never noticed any injuries on the baby, who she remembers loved being carried.

“He was very obedient and always smiled. He never cried. He had a face like a ‘big biscuit’,” she said in Mandarin.

Neo’s sister added: “He always wanted people to hug him.”

The last time Neo’s mother saw Trevor was a few weeks before his death. She had given him a bath and said she did not see any bruises nor abnormalities.

Nor did the family suspect that Gan was being abused. Neo’s sister said her brother doted on Gan, who was always by his side.

The couple also went for two short holidays after Trevor’s birth, she said. “He would save up money to put the baby at the nanny’s home, and bring Chloe on holiday.”

According to court documents, Neo physically abused Gan between February and August 2024.

He punched her multiple times at an arcade at Kallang Wave Mall because he was angry she had played a game on her own even though he had told her he wanted to play with her.

He also punched her at a bus stop after she accidentally led them onto the wrong bus.

For Neo’s mother and sister, the revelations remain difficult for them to square with their impressions of him .

After the hearing, they spoke with Neo and told him to work hard for his future.

Gan’s parents, who were in court, declined to comment when approached.

A ‘do-first, think-later’ guy: Neo’s friend

Friends of the couple who had attended the High Court hearing showed a more complicated picture.

A 22-year-old national serviceman who gave his initials as D.Q. described Neo as an impulsive man who tended to regret his actions.

“He was a do-first, think-later kind of guy,” he said. D.Q. had introduced the couple to each other after meeting them through gaming.

Their friends were aware that he was “a bit rough with (Chloe)”, said D.Q, adding that the behaviour stopped for a while after he “talked some sense into him.”

But parenting took its toll. They l ost touch for a while due to busy schedules. The next time D.Q heard about the family, baby Trevor was dead.

Court documents showed that Gan and Neo abused Trevor by shaking him, or covering his mouth and nose to stop him from crying.

Gan also hit the infant on numerous occasions. Neo slapped Trevor, dug his fingers into his son’s mouth, and hit him. He also repeatedly pinched Trevor’s fingers to provoke a reaction from the baby, which he found funny.

The couple exchanged messages about the abuse, and joked about how the shaking could cause brain damage.

Trevor died after Gan smothered him, hit him in the face and turned him face down on the mattress on the night of Sept 1, 2024.

The baby was pronounced dead at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital at about 12.20am on Sept 2. The couple were arrested after hospital staff lodged a police report.

Christine Tan is a correspondent at The Straits Times reporting on social affairs and issues of justice in Singapore.

Crimes against children/minors

10月21日，婴儿特雷弗的父母梁嘉明和甘慈璇分别被判处16年和15年零3个月有期徒刑。

插图：布莱恩特·林

发布于 2026 年 10 月 21 日下午 2:56

更新于2026年10月21日下午2:56

27 岁的 Neo Jia Ming 和 23 岁的 Chloe Gan Ci Xuan 因虐待致死他们 8 个月大的儿子 Trevor 而被判入狱。Trevor 在遭受数月虐待后于 2024 年 9 月去世。

Neo的家人表示他们感到震惊，无法接受这个事实，因为他们一直认为Neo是一位勤劳的父亲，而Gan是一位说话轻声细语、忠诚顾家的人。

法庭文件称，这对夫妇摇晃、捂住特雷弗的嘴、殴打他，还拿脑损伤开玩笑；尼奥也虐待了甘，两人于 10 月 12 日认罪。

新加坡——一名男子因虐待致死其 8 个月大的儿子而与妻子一同被判入狱，他的家人至今仍在努力将案件的细节与他们自以为了解的这位年轻父亲联系起来。

在母亲和姐姐眼中，27岁的梁嘉明是一位勤劳的父亲，为了养家糊口，他身兼数职；而他的妻子，23岁的甘慈璇，则性格温柔。这对夫妇看起来彼此深爱，并没有表现出法庭文件中披露的任何虐待行为。

10月21日，Neo被判处16年监禁，Gan被判处15年零3个月监禁。他们曾捂住婴儿Trevor Neo的口鼻，对其进行摇晃和殴打，导致Trevor Neo在遭受虐待后于2024年9月去世。

这对夫妇于10月12日分别对与特雷弗虐待行为相关的三项指控认罪。尼奥还被控多次殴打甘，构成家庭暴力罪。

10 月 21 日，在高等法院宣判后，Neo 的母亲和姐姐在接受记者采访时，表达了她们对所发生事情的震惊和难以置信。

“这不像我哥哥会做的事。直到现在，我仍然无法接受，”Neo的妹妹说道，她是一位29岁的汽车行业专业人士，只希望别人称呼她的姓氏。

他们的母亲，64岁，只透露自己姓许（Koh），她说，女孩怀孕后，她就告诉儿子要娶甘（Gan），因为她觉得儿子应该对孩子负责。

她回忆说，这对年轻夫妇努力寻找育儿方面的信息，为特雷弗的到来做好准备。

Neo为了养家糊口，做过外卖员和宠物美容师。Neo的姐姐说，Gan也是一名宠物美容师，但月子结束后就辞职了。

他的姐姐会帮忙买奶粉和尿布，有时尼奥要钱的时候也会转给他。但除此之外，她觉得他“相当能自理”。

这对夫妇偶尔会带特雷弗参加家庭聚餐，但他们并没有提到遇到任何困难。

Koh说：“他们只说他们累了。”

宝宝一直想要拥抱。

在后港一家咖啡店工作的 Koh 表示，由于她和儿子的工作时间冲突，她“只能偶尔”见到她的孙子。

她从未注意到婴儿身上有任何伤痕，她记得婴儿很喜欢被抱着。

“他非常听话，总是面带微笑。他从不哭。他的脸像一块‘大饼干’，”她用普通话说。

尼奥的妹妹补充说：“他总是希望人们拥抱他。”

尼奥的母亲最后一次见到特雷弗是在他去世前几周。她给他洗了个澡，说没看到他身上有任何瘀伤或异常情况。

家人也从未怀疑甘某遭受虐待。尼奥的妹妹说，哥哥非常疼爱甘某，甘某也总是陪伴在他身边。

她说，特雷弗出生后，这对夫妇还进行了两次短途旅行。“他会攒钱把孩子送到保姆家，然后带着克洛伊去度假。”

根据法庭文件，Neo在2024年2月至8月期间对Gan进行了身体虐待。

在加冷购物中心的游戏厅里，他多次殴打她，因为他生气她独自玩游戏，尽管他曾告诉她他想和她一起玩。

她不小心带他们上了错误的公交车，之后他在公交车站打了她一拳。

对于尼奥的母亲和妹妹来说，这些真相仍然很难与她们对他的印象相符。

听证会结束后，他们和尼奥谈了谈，告诉他要为自己的未来努力奋斗。

甘的父母当时也在法庭上，记者上前询问时，他们拒绝置评。

一个“先行动后思考”的人：尼奥的朋友

出席高等法院听证会的这对夫妇的朋友则展现了更为复杂的情况。

一位名叫DQ的22岁国民服役人员形容Neo是一个冲动的人，他常常会后悔自己的行为。

他说：“他是个先行动后思考的人。” DQ是通过游戏认识了这对夫妇，并把他们介绍认识的。

DQ说，他们的朋友都知道他“对（Chloe）有点粗暴”，并补充说，在他“和他谈了几句之后，这种行为停止了一段时间。

但养育子女让他们身心俱疲。由于工作繁忙，他们一度失去了联系。DQ再次听到这个家庭的消息时，小特雷弗已经去世了。

法庭文件显示，甘和尼奥虐待特雷弗，他们摇晃他，或者捂住他的口鼻阻止他哭泣。

甘恩也多次殴打婴儿。尼奥打了特雷弗一巴掌，把手指伸进他儿子的嘴里，还打他。他还反复掐特雷弗的手指，故意激怒婴儿，他觉得这样很有趣。

这对夫妇就虐待事件交换了信息，还开玩笑说摇晃可能会导致脑损伤。

2024 年 9 月 1 日晚，甘将特雷弗捂住口鼻，打他的脸，然后把他脸朝下放在床垫上，导致特雷弗死亡。

9月2日凌晨12点20分左右，婴儿在KK妇女儿童医院被宣布死亡。医院工作人员报案后，这对夫妇被逮捕。

克里斯汀·谭是《海峡时报》的记者，报道新加坡的社会事务和司法问题。

侵害儿童/未成年人的犯罪