A biological father in his 40s who allegedly beat his 2-month-old daughter to death will be referred to the prosecutors' office on charges of child abuse murder.

Police recovered home camera footage that the father had deleted, confirming circumstances of the assault. Determining that dolus eventualis (oblique intent) for murder is established, police upgraded the charges from child abuse resulting in death to child abuse murder.

The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency announced today that it plans to forward A, a man in his 40s, to the prosecutors' office under arrest tomorrow (the 20th) on charges of child abuse murder.

A is accused of striking his 2-month-old daughter's face and head area about 10 times with both hands at his home in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, in the early hours of the 11th, causing her death.

He is reportedly known to have stated that he hit the child because he became annoyed when she did not sleep and kept crying on the night of the crime.

While admitting to the assault, A has claimed that he had no intention of killing the baby.

During the investigation, police recovered home camera footage from inside the home—which A had remotely deleted via his smartphone immediately after the hospital pronounced the infant dead—through digital forensics.

The restored footage captured sounds presumed to be A striking the infant, as well as the daughter's crying.

Police upgraded the charges based on factors such as the National Forensic Service's verbal opinion that the child's cause of death is presumed to be "head injury," which matched the areas where A inflicted the blows.

Synthesizing the fact that the victim was merely a 2-month-old infant, along with the areas struck, the method, and the frequency of the assault, police determined that oblique intent to kill was established.

Police have determined that A's wife was sleeping at the time of the crime, did not participate in it, and was unaware of the assault.

No circumstances indicating prior abuse or assault before the day of the incident were found.

(Photo provided by Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency, Yonhap News)