Chiba Mother accused of drowning disabled daughter faces verdict, says she regrets killing

By Barrier Free Japan

September 17 2026

CHIBA – A 58-year-old mother accused of drowning her severely disabled daughter in a water-filled plastic storage container at their home in Mobara, Chiba Prefecture, told a Chiba District Court hearing that she regrets the killing and wishes she could turn back time.

The mother, identified as defendant A, is charged with murdering her 29-year-old daughter, B, on March 8.

Shueisha Online reported on September 16th that B had severe physical disabilities caused by cerebral palsy and had been issued a Level 1 Physical Disability Certificate. She had also recently been suffering frequent epileptic seizures.

According to the indictment, A submerged B’s face in a water-filled plastic storage container at their home between the early hours and early morning of March 8, causing her to drown.

A lived with B and provided care including assistance with eating and toileting when services from a day-support center and home-care workers were unavailable.

A divorced in 2002, when B was still a child. Both of A’s parents died in 2022, and A is also said to have cared for them.

The situation became increasingly difficult in 2023, when B began shouting loudly every day at the facility she attended. The facility subsequently asked A to consider moving her daughter elsewhere.

At a Sept. 15 hearing, A’s defense attorney described the circumstances facing her:

“A is a serious person who didn’t make unreasonable demands of the facility. Yet her child had been screaming at the place where she was being cared for, continuously, for nearly two years. The facility told her, ‘We want you to move her.’ She looked for another facility but couldn’t find one. It is not difficult to imagine how increasingly cornered she became.”

B’s shouting subsided in 2025 after she began taking medication prescribed by a doctor. She later began suffering epileptic seizures almost every day, and A eventually had to stop her part-time job because she repeatedly went to the facility to collect her daughter.

The defense attorney said:

“A’s life’s central purpose was to protect B’s life and make it possible for her to be happy. But the frequent epileptic seizures were precisely an issue that threatened her life. B’s facial expressions disappeared. This was directly connected to her no longer being happy. It became increasingly difficult for A to fulfill the purpose to which she had devoted her life”

In October last year, A applied to a local hospital for respite hospitalization, allowing caregivers to take a temporary break from caring for a family member. The hospital reportedly rejected the application, saying it lacked the medical resources necessary to accept B.

After B suffered a major epileptic seizure on Jan. 10 this year, A became increasingly convinced that “B won’t be able to survive if I’m not there.”

Prosecutors said A bought a plastic sheet to place beneath the storage container and cold packs intended to prevent decomposition of a body in mid-February.

They said she subsequently carried out her plan for the two of them to die during a cold night in March.

A was released on bail about three months after her arrest and is currently living in a protective facility.

At a Sept. 11 hearing, A described B as “my life, my everything” and said she wished she could “turn back time.”

In closing arguments on Sept. 15, the prosecutor said:

“The defendant attempted to take the victim with her in death, an act stemming from the depth of her love for the victim, whom she regarded as one with herself and as her life and everything. Ultimately, however, she killed only the victim.”

The prosecution sought a five-year prison sentence, the statutory minimum for the murder charge, taking the circumstances into consideration.

When presiding Judge Eiichi Fukano invited A to speak, she sobbed and said:

“B-chan, I’m sorry. Every day, I apologize to B-chan and pray for her soul… With everyone’s help, I’m living… B-chan, I’m truly sorry.”

She also apologized to the judges and lay judges, saying, “I am sorry for causing you all trouble.”

The verdict is scheduled to be handed down on Sept. 17.