A mother from Skillman is accused of murdering her two children, restraining them in their car seats prior to officers finding them inside her vehicle.
Hillsborough Township police responded to a 9-1-1 call reporting a disabled motor vehicle which had left the roadway on Mountain View Road in Hillsborough around 7:41 a.m. Nov. 9.
Upon arrival, responding officers encountered the female driver identified as Yuhwei Chou, 36, of Skillman.
The officers observed two children secured in a booster seat and a baby seat in the back seat of the vehicle.
Officers observed that the children were bound and restrained, according to information provided by Somerset County Prosecutor Michael H. Robertson, Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Chief of County Detectives John W. Fodor, Hillsborough Township Chief of Police Michael McMahon and Montgomery Township Police Director/Capt. Jim Gill.
No vital signs were present on the children and they were pronounced deceased at the scene, according to the statement.
The children, whom authorities are identifying as Samantha Ross, female age 7, and Paul Ross, male age 10 months, were the biological children of Chou, according to authorities.
Robertson stated that detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit, the Crime Scene Investigations Unit, Hillsborough Township Police, Montgomery Township Police, and Investigators from the New Jersey Northern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office reported to the scene.
Robertson said the investigation revealed that Chou allegedly caused the deaths of her two children. The circumstances leading to the events which caused the deaths are under investigation by authorities.
No motive has been released, according to the statement.
An autopsy for the cause and manner of death will be performed by the Medical Examiner’s Office.
Chou was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Chou will be lodged in the Somerset County Jail pending a bail detention hearing following a medical clearance from an area hospital.
Anyone with information should contact the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit at 908-231-7100, or the Hillsborough Township Police Department at 908-369-4323 or via the STOPit app.
The STOPit app allows citizens to provide anonymous reports including videos and photos. STOPit can be downloaded to your smart phone for free at the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, access code: SOMERSETNJ.
Information can also be provided through the Somerset County Crime Stoppers’ Tip Line at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477).
All anonymous STOPit reports and Crime Stopper tips will be kept confidential.