According to the indictment, To Thi Ty Na, 45, of Thang Binh Commune, had previously been convicted of theft. After her husband died in 2020, she was left without a stable job or source of income. The couple had four children together.

She sold their house for VND1.2 billion, and after the money ran out, she hatched a plan to buy life insurance for her children with the intention of collecting the payouts, prosecutors said.

Defendant To Thi Ty Na at a court in Da Nang City, August 2026 . Photo by Huynh Chi

She bought seven policies for her children, paying annual premiums of more than VND100 million, and naming herself the beneficiary in all cases.

Her five-year-old son, Hoang, was covered by two policies issued by Generali Life Insurance and FWD Life Insurance.

On the evening of Jan. 2, 2023, at her home, she turned a security camera away before telling the boy to enter the bathroom, where she killed him.

Prosecutors said she then staged the scene to make it appear that the child had accidentally drowned in a bucket of water.

She then submitted fraudulent insurance claims stating that the boy had died in an accident and received more than VND4.1 billion from the two insurers.

The police discovered that Na had been the only person with the child at the time of the incident in a house that had only one entrance.

The victim was 124 cm tall and could not have drowned accidentally in a bucket 63 cm high, they determined. Besides, there were injuries on his body consistent with external force, they found.

The case came to light after the victim's relatives noticed alterations to the home's security camera and reported to the police.

At the trial, Na denied killing her son for insurance money, insisting that she had got the policies to "protect his health."

The bathroom at To Thi Ty Na's home, where her son died. Photo by VnExpress/Dac Thanh

She claimed she could not remember key details and that the injuries found on the child had occurred at school.

But the Da Nang People's Court, based on the evidence presented by investigators, ruled her guilty of murder and insurance fraud.

It sentenced her to life imprisonment for "murder" and six years for "insurance fraud."

The sentences will run concurrently.

She was also ordered to repay the full amount to the two insurance companies.