(File photo)

On Aug. 18, a woman stood trial in Beijing for the crime of killing her mother by forcing mercury down her throat.

The woman, Yang Kun, spoke calmly at the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court as she recounted how she had killed her mother in January 2014, simply because the older woman wouldn’t agree to give her money. The 39-year-old was charged with murder and theft, Beijing Evening News reported.

“My mother always had trouble with me. That day I was trying to borrow money from her. I told her I was running a business and I wouldn’t mess around anymore, but she didn’t believe me. She said she regretted having me as daughter and she was ashamed of me,” Yang said in court, adding that she became agitated and tied her mother up with a long phone cable.

Yang said she then broke two thermometers, poured the mercury into a bowl and again asked her mother to lend her some money. Still, her mother said no. Yang described what happened next: “Then I used a spoon to open her mouth and pour the mercury inside…I tied her legs with tape. She tried to kick me at first, but gradually stopped moving.”

After the murder, Yang said that she rummaged through her mother’s room and found cash, bank books and bank cards. Yang’s 7-year-old daughter was present during the altercation, and at first tried to stop it. Eventually, however, Yang locked her daughter in another room, according to Beijing Evening News.

(Yang Kun stands on trial in Beijing. Photo/cztv.com)

The victim’s body was hidden in the apartment for three months. Yang and her daughter also lived with the body for two months, until March 2014 when Yang moved out of the apartment, leaving her daughter with neighbors. In April 2014, the neighbor caring for Yang’s daughter noticed inconsistencies in the stories Yang had told to explain her mother’s absence. The neighbor’s suspicions eventually led to the discovery of the body. Yang’s daughter allegedly cried out when the police broke into her house, “Don’t remove the quilt! It’s not my grandma!”

According to Yang’s neighbors, the child often had bruises on her body, allegedly caused by her mother and sometimes her grandmother.

Yang pleaded guilty, though she argued that she didn’t know mercury was so extremely poisonous, to the point that “one could die so soon after drinking it.” She said she intended the mercury as more of a threat. Her lawyer pleaded for leniency for the sake of Yang’s daughter.

The court did not give a final ruling on Aug. 18.