Police arrested a man suspected of murdering a mother and her nearly one-year-old baby in Kampong Speu province, a day after the vicious crime took place, said law enforcement officials.

Baset district police chief Chorn Sophit told The Post on June 27 that the man had been apprehended earlier that afternoon.

The murders took place at 6:45am on the day prior, in Trapeang Chhuok village, of Baset district’s Kak commune. A 24-year-old woman named Chhiev Sokh Koeun was doing laundry, with her baby nearby in a hammock, when she and her child were stabbed to death.

The suspect then fled into the nearby forest.

Citing the parents of the victim and witnesses who lived nearby, Sophit described the suspect as the victim’s cousin Lay Try, 33.

“He has been imprisoned in the past for drug offences,” he added.

He explained that in cooperation with the Kampong Speu provincial police and the Child Protection Unit, district police officers had surrounded the forest of the Kak Mountain area. At around 1pm, eagle-eyed law enforcement officers spotted him near the edge of the forest, and were able to take him into custody.

He said district police officers were still conducting interviews with the suspect. As soon as a case for his prosecution was complete, it would be sent to court.