“There was no one I could talk to about my worries”: Mother admits charges for strangling son with a severe intellectual disability to death

From RSK

September 21 2023

OKAYAMA – A jury trial began on September 20th at the Okayama District Court for a mother accused of strangling and killing her 8-year-old son, who was severely intellectually disabled, in Wake Town, Okayama Prefecture in June 2022. The mother admitted to the indictment, saying, “There is no doubt.”

According to the indictment, she is accused of killing her eldest son, Soten, who attends a special needs school, by strangling him with a towel in June of last year in a light passenger car parked in the parking lot of his parents’ home.

At her first trial today, the accused admitted to the charges against her, saying, “There is no doubt about it,” and her competency will be disputed at trial.

In there opening statement, the prosecution explained the defendant’s situation at the time, saying, “She was raising her son by herself, but her husband was pressuring her to divorce him, which led to their separation.

The prosecution argued that she killed Soten to make her husband feel responsible for his actions, and then attempted to commit suicide but was unable to die, noting that “the motive was extremely selfish, and even though her husband’s words and actions were unreasonable, the victim was not responsible at all.

The defense, on the other hand, is seeking extenuating circumstances, stating that “the defendant was driven to the point of deciding to commit suicide with his son and was suffering from depression and was in a state of mental exhaustion.

The trial will continue tomorrow (21st) and is scheduled to conclude on the 25th of this month. In court today, defense attorneys asked questions of the accused.

When asked if her husband did not cooperate, the accused tearfully stated, “After the child was 2 years old, he stopped cooperating with me in child-rearing.” When asked if she had anyone other than her husband to talk to about her problems, she stated, “There was no one I could sincerely talk to about my problems,” describing how she was isolated from others.

The trial is scheduled to continue tomorrow with questions to the defendant and questioning of witnesses.