A woman accused of killing her 2-year-old son at their Eastvale home is slated to be arraigned at the end of the month -- more than two years after the child's death.
Xiu Xiu Sun, 34, is charged with first-degree murder and assault on a child resulting in great bodily injury or death.
The toddler, Chris Cui, died in October 2022. Sun was arrested the same day following a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation.
At her initial court appearance a week later, Sun's public defender submitted motions arguing that his client was psychologically unstable and required mental health treatment.
After psychiatric evaluations that continued through most of 2023, a judge ruled Sun should undergo treatment, and she was committed to a state hospital.
During a hearing last month, at the request of the prosecution, Superior Court Judge Scott Williams reviewed the case and determined that Sun's "mental competency had been restored," according to the District Attorney's Office.
He scheduled her arraignment for Jan. 28 at the Riverside Hall of Justice. She's being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside.
According to sheriff's Sgt. Steve Brosche, patrol deputies were called to the defendant's and her husband's residence in the 6000 block of Rosewood Way, near Turnberry Place, about 9 a.m. on Oct. 20, 2022, to investigate reports of an injured child.
Brosche said deputies arrived to find paramedics trying to resuscitate Chris, who had suffered unspecified injuries.
"After life-saving measures were unsuccessful, the juvenile was pronounced dead at the scene," Brosche said. "During the course of the investigation, foul play was suspected surrounding the juvenile's death."
He said that Central Homicide Unit detectives took over the investigation, questioning both Sun and her spouse, whose identity was not released.
Sun was taken into custody without incident at the sheriff's Jurupa Valley station, and her husband was allowed to leave, without suspicion of involvement in the toddler's death, according to Brosche.
Details regarding the circumstances behind the fatality, including a possible motive, were not released.
Sun has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.