Murder of Lai Ying Xin

On the night of 11 September 2008, 16-year-old Lai Ying Xin, a schoolgirl and part-time salesgirl, disappeared after leaving a shopping mall in Kulai, Johor, Malaysia. The next day, her family received a ransom call from an unknown caller demanding RM60,000 for her release. Police were contacted, and the family gathered RM33,000, which was handed over to the kidnappers. On 15 September 2008, police arrested seven male youths; three were released after questioning, while four remained in custody. The suspects, who all admitted involvement, led police to a forest near Taman Puteri Kulai, where Lai's burnt body was discovered. An autopsy determined she had been strangled to death before her body was burned, likely to destroy evidence. All four suspects were known to Lai, having attended or currently attending the same school as her.

On 25 September 2008, four youths — 22-year-old Teh Kim Hong, 17-year-old Leong Soon Long, and 16-year-olds Wong Soon Heng and Wong Kah Wai — were charged with kidnapping and murder. The case went to trial at the Johor High Court in 2010. At the close of the prosecution's case, Justice Mohd Zawawi Salleh acquitted Wong Kah Wai on 25 November 2010 without calling for his defence, citing insufficient evidence, while ordering the remaining three to enter their defence. On 21 February 2011, the judge found Teh, Leong, and Wong Soon Heng guilty on both counts. On 31 March 2011, Teh — the only adult among the trio — was sentenced to a mandatory death penalty for both murder and kidnapping, while Leong and Wong Soon Heng, both underage at the time of the crime, were sentenced to indefinite detention at the Sultan of Johor's pleasure.

Teh's appeals were dismissed by the Court of Appeal in 2013 and the Federal Court in 2015, finalizing his death sentences. His execution was later suspended under a nationwide moratorium beginning in 2018. Following Malaysia's 2023 abolition of the mandatory death penalty, which allowed convicts to seek re-sentencing, Teh applied for a reduced sentence. On 16 May 2024, the Federal Court commuted his two death sentences to concurrent 40-year prison terms plus 17 strokes of the cane, despite objections from prosecutors and Lai's family, who sought to retain the death penalty. Teh's sentence was backdated to his 2008 arrest, with potential release around 2048.

The commutation drew public criticism and anger from Lai's family, who feared possible retaliation upon Teh's eventual release and expressed disappointment at the lack of remorse shown by the perpetrators. In March 2025, Leong Soon Long and Wong Soon Heng, along with other former child offenders, filed a judicial review application challenging the constitutionality of indefinite detention under the Child Act 2001. On 20 April 2026, the Federal Court unanimously rejected their application, citing existing review mechanisms for such sentences. As of the most recent reporting, the whereabouts and status of the fourth accused, Wong Kah Wai, who was acquitted at trial, remain unknown, while Leong's and Wong Soon Heng's pardon applications remain pending.