Following more investigation, the Federal Way man with multiple child assault charges following the death of his daughter had his charges upgraded, and his girlfriend is now a co-defendant in the case.

Woo Jin Hahn, 29, and Cierra Ruby Fisher, 31, who were dating and living in Federal Way, are now co-defendants in the case that followed the death of Hahn’s 5-year-old daughter, where she was allegedly beaten before she died. Amended charging documents allege that three other children — ages 10, 9 and 6, who were also living in the home — were abused by Hahn and one of them by Fisher.

On June 3, Hahn was charged with second-degree assault of a child, two counts of third-degree assault of a child, fourth-degree assault and interfering with domestic violence reporting.

On June 17, Hahn’s charges were amended to first-degree assault of a child for allegedly assaulting his 5-year-old daughter, identified in documents as S.J.H., second-degree assault of a child for allegedly assaulting two of his other children, and third-degree assault of a child for allegedly assaulting another one of his children.

On June 13, Fisher was charged with first-degree assault of a child for also allegedly assaulting S.J.H., and third-degree assault for allegedly assaulting one of the other children.

According to King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Casey McNerthney, if the autopsy for S.J.H. rules her death a homicide, prosecutors would review that information as soon as it’s received from the medical examiner’s office or referred by police investigators.

On May 29, Hahn was booked into the Maleng Regional Justice Center and remains there on a $5 million bail. Hahn pleaded not guilty at his June 17 arraignment.

On June 10, Fisher was booked into the Maleng Regional Justice Center and remains there on a $100,000 bail. Fisher pleaded not guilty at her July 2 arraignment.

Details of the case

At about 1:02 p.m. May 29, dispatch received a call from Hahn who stated he was at the Glen Park Apartments, 952 SW Campus Drive, and his daughter wasn’t breathing.

Two Federal Way Police Department officers were let into the apartment by Fisher, where they located Hahn and S.J.H. Documents state S.J.H. was found unresponsive and not breathing. She would later be declared deceased.

According to documents, Hahn told officers that S.J.H. was stumbling, so he gave her Pedialyte and laid her down, but she later stopped breathing. One of the responding officers noticed that S.J.H. had several large bruises across her forehead, cheeks, chin and temples. Documents state that S.J.H. also had what appeared to be two lacerations to the right side and center of her forehead.

One of the officers asked Hahn why S.J.H. had bruising on her head, to which Hahn said it was from disciplining her. Hahn told police that he had disciplined S.J.H. the night prior, hitting her with a metal cup, documents state.

According to documents, when Fisher was asked about S.J.H.’s bruises and cuts, she stated, “um, he, I… that was his doing.” Fisher stated that she had seen Hahn hitting S.J.H. the night prior.

Hahn was then arrested and transported to the police department. Documents state that after signing his Miranda waiver, Hahn said that he believed that S.J.H. did not respond to anger, so he had to do something harder so she would understand the message. Hahn said that the night before her death, S.J.H. would not eat her dinner, so he hit her with the metal cup, striking her all over her hands, arms, body and legs. Hahn stated that before that, he hit S.J.H. with very hard slaps because he exploded with stress, and he knew he should have been patient, but he was weak.

According to documents, Hahn then described how he was attempting to get S.J.H. to use a potty trainer, but she would not sit still, so with a cord, he tied her hands together above her head, attaching the cord to a chin-up bar. Hahn stated that Fisher then tied her legs in place, tying a towel around her legs and the potty trainer.

Hahn said that S.J.H. would not sit still while tied up, so he began to punch her as hard as he could in the ribs. Documents state that Hahn said S.J.H. was tied up in this manner for three to four hours.

According to documents, Hahn said that when he would get frustrated with S.J.H., and it was normal for him to have a physical reaction once or twice a week, and he said his snapping points would result in bruises that would last two to three days. Police on the scene report that Hahn, when asked if his actions led to the death of his daughter, responded “yes.”

Medical examiners found that S.J.H had bruises, scratches and abrasions all over. Documents state that bruising went down to her scalp, and her brain was swollen. Additionally, it was found that S.J.H. had an acute fracture to her right wrist with no healing and a subacute fracture to her jaw that showed some evidence of healing, documents state.

During forensic interviews, all three surviving children separately shared similar or the same stories where Hahn had struck them. According to documents, the kids stated that Hahn would hit them with a bamboo stick, a metal pole and a metal cup. Additionally, the kids stated that Hahn would make them hit each other, and he would make them hold their hands in the air while facing the wall for extended periods as punishment.

According to documents, one of the children reported that Fisher hit them in the back of the head with a wooden spoon as punishment, resulting in a lump.