Adopted Korean Boy Beaten to Death By Father to Be Commemorated at Maryland School

June 7, 2017

A South Korean boy who was killed by his adoptive father in the United States back in 2014 will be commemorated with a statue by a school in Maryland.

The Linwood Center, a school for children with disabilities, announced on Sunday that it will dedicate a statue next week in memory of murdered adoptee Hyunsu O’Callaghan, Yonhap reports (via The Korea Times).

Just a few months after he was brought to the U.S. and adopted in 2014, the then 3-year-old boy from South Korea was murdered by his adoptive father Brian O’Callaghan. The former NSA official admitted to killing his adopted son by hurling him against a wall in their home.

A ceremony to mark the dedication of the sculpture called “Hyunsu’s Butterfly” will be held on June 12 at the school campus located in Howard County.

Hyunsu’s statue, which depicts a boy holding a butterfly, is a copy of a similar sculpture installed at the Daniel School, a school for children with disabilities in Seoul, in April this year. Both sculptures were created by Korean-American adoptee Thomas Park Clement, a sculptor, and his wife, Kim Won-sook.

The Linwood Center stated on its website that both schools “share a meaningful connection through their work of providing special education programming for children with disabilities. To mark this new partnership, both schools received a donation of matching sculptures” from Clement and his wife.

A plea-bargaining agreement has since resulted in the dismissal of the adoptive father’s initial first-degree murder charge.

Assistant State’s Attorney Donna Fenton, who argued for a 40-year sentence for O’Callaghan, told the court (via The Washington Post):

“This was not the end of it. We know from the autopsy that there were multiple impact injuries. This child was beaten to death.”

O’Callaghan, who is now serving his 12-year sentence for the child’s death, said during the trial: “I killed my son. He’s gone. A defenseless little boy that I loved is gone.”

Feature Image via Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office / The Washington Post

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