Yue Yu is accused of putting a 'Drano-like' liquid in her husband's tea. The mug shot is from the Irvine Police Department and a screenshot of her in the kitchen is provided by Steven G. Hittelman of the Hittelman Family Law Group.
The daughter of the dermatologist facing charges for allegedly poisoning her husband's tea with a 'Drano-like' liquid expressed fear to a school counselor. She feared her mom would harm her if she didn't lie about it in court, according to court documents.
Dr. Yue 'Emily' Yu's 11-year-old daughter told her school counselor that she was afraid if she didn't lie about the situation, it would make her mom angry. The therapist documented the girl appearing distressed and tearful during a private session in November.
When the therapist asked why, the girl said, "Because what if she does what she did to my dad to me?"
The counselor then asked, "Are you afraid that your mom would kill you?"
"Yes," the girl replied, according to court documents.
Yu and her husband, Dr. Jack Chen, are going through a divorce and custody battle.
Yu's lawyer, David Dworakowski, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Law&Crime. But in court documents, he and his co-counsel said Yu denies having any violative communications with the children or coaching them about facts related to her defense in the criminal matter.
The document said, "Over the past year of Mother's parenting time, there has not been a scintilla of evidence that Mother, or Grandmother, attempted improper communications with the children. Nothing extraordinary has been seen by the monitors."
As Law&Crime previously reported, Chen alleged his wife tried to kill him by poisoning his hot lemonade with drain cleaner after he started noticing a chemical taste in the drink in March and April 2022.
His suspicions were raised after he was diagnosed with two stomach ulcers, gastritis, and inflammation of his esophagus. He put up a nanny cam in the kitchen, which caught her three times taking the drain cleaner from under the sink and pouring it into his drink, court documents said.
Yu was arrested after Chen reported the incidents to the Irvine Police Department on Aug. 4, 2022. She faces three felony counts of poisoning and one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury, prosecutors said. Yu was released from jail after posting a $30,000 bond and faces a hearing in the criminal case in May.
Chen alleged years of verbal and physical abuse by Yu and her mother — the children's grandmother — on their children and him, court documents said.
The school therapist wrote in court documents that the daughter described her mother using her phone to type lines for her. In one alleged instance about the drain cleaner used in the house, the daughter "acted out herself and her mom by changing voices."
The daughter reported that Yu would question her about why Drain-O was in the house during the summer.
The daughter was supposed to respond, 'Because we had ants and dad wouldn’t buy ant traps,' according to court documents.
Later, the therapist documented that the daughter mentioned her mother grabbing her arm, causing pain. She expressed being scared to anger her mom and feeling uncertain about lying.
The daughter stated that while living with her mother, Yu would keep her up late and wake her up early. This was to study for tests and practice piano. The daughter also mentioned that her mother would occasionally remove the leg of a baby chair, which was apparently used to harm her, according to court documents.
According to documents, the maternal grandmother instructed the daughter and her younger brother to come over so she could hit them with the chair leg.
The documents stated that the grandmother would chase and beat them if they tried to escape.
The daughter of a California dermatologist accused of poisoning her husband’s tea with a substance resembling Drano told a school counselor that she was scared her mom would harm her if she didn't lie about it in court, as per new court documents.