Filipino Woman Brutally Beats US Serviceman’s 3-Year-Old Son To Death 'To Send Him To Heaven'

A 30-year-old woman from the Philippines accused of killing the 3-year-old son of a U.S. serviceman was arrested in South Korea Monday, the police said.

The woman, whose name was not disclosed to the public, is accused of beating the child to death Sunday evening in a room provided to her by the bar where she worked in the city of Pyeongtaek, the South China Morning Post reported. The city is home to a large concentration of United States Forces Korea (USFK).

She had been asked by the boy's father to briefly look after the child and his 7-year-old brother prior to the incident.

Authorities were alerted to the incident by the bar's owner, who found the 3-year-old boy's body at around 8 a.m. Sunday. His older brother was unharmed, according to the report.

A search for the woman was launched, but it was called off after police discovered she had already been taken into custody following reports of her roaming the streets naked.

"She was spotted wandering around in the street stark naked," a senior Pyeongtaek police officer was quoted by South China Morning Post as saying.

"When questioned, she was talking quite incoherently. We suspect she is suffering from a mental illness or some substance-related disorder," he added.

During the initial questioning, the woman confessed to assaulting the child but responded incoherently when questioned further, the Korea Times reported.

She told police that she was "trying to chase away evil spirits," according to Korea JoongAng Daily. "The child had an evil spirit in his body, so I hit him to send him to heaven," she reportedly said.

An initial drug test on the woman, who had previously been married to a Korean but is now divorced and legally staying in the country, had come back negative, according to the South China Morning Post. Urine and hair samples have been sent for forensic analysis and further testing.

Police reportedly applied for an arrest warrant against the woman. Additionally, they requested an autopsy of the victim from Korea's National Forensic Service.

There are around 28,000 American troops stationed in South Korea, which included 19,500 Army soldiers, 7,800 airmen and women, 350 sailors and 120 Marines, USFK data showed.