California sisters arrested after mother found dead in pullout couch

Two California sisters are in custody on suspicion of murder after their mother was found dead in a pullout couch, San Diego police said. 

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Shortly before midnight on March 6, San Diego dispatchers received a 911 call from a home on the 6300 block of Genesee Avenue in University City. The caller said Kun-Ying Yang, 81, had been discovered unresponsive by family members in the apartment. When police and firefighters arrived at the scene, they found Yang “positioned awkwardly on a bed,” as in a March 12 news release. Despite first responders attempting life-saving measures, Yang was pronounced deceased at the scene. 

Investigators quickly deemed the situation suspicious, police said, and opened a homicide probe. Lt. Christopher Leahy of the San Diego Police Department told the San Diego Union-Tribune June 4 that detectives believed Yang had been, in fact, face-down in the space between the bed frame and couch for at least 15 hours. 

“She clearly should not have been in that position, and efforts were not made to remove her or get her appropriate medical care,” Leahy told the Union-Tribune.

An autopsy found Yang died of positional asphyxia, or suffocation, with neglect as a contributing factor in her death, Leahy said. In addition, police said that during interviews, they learned of allegations of neglect and poor elder care in the home. 

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On Thursday, Yang’s daughters, Rebecca Wu, 53, and Ingrid Wu, 52, were arrested on suspicion of murder. Jail records show they were both charged with first-degree murder and felony elder abuse. Leahy indicated to the Union-Tribune that the elder abuse charge was in relation to the alleged neglect of their 88-year-old father.

Jail records show the Wu sisters are being held without bail. They are due in court on Monday.