An Arizona mother was convicted of killing her two children with a meat cleaver, according to multiple news reports.
On Monday, Feb. 24, Yui Inoue was found guilty of first-degree murder, child abuse and disorderly conduct in connection with the 2021 deaths of her 9-year-old daughter Mia Inoue and 7-year-old son Kai Inoue, AZ Family, The Arizona Republic and Fox 10 Phoenix reported from the courtroom.
Inoue, 44, was not in Maricopa County Court when her verdict was read since she waived her right to be present during the trial, according to the Republic.
Prosecutors argued Inoue killed her children in an act of revenge against her husband after a heated argument about money she demanded from him amid their divorce, 12 News reports. On May 15, 2021, the husband left and called Tempe police, who responded to the home. The officers noted minimal damage in the apartment and said that the children were asleep, per the outlet.
However, later that day, when police returned to that same Tempe, Ariz., home to check on the children, they found a bloody scene. That search was prompted by Inoue, who drove to a Tempe Police Department substation and told an officer she heard voices telling her to kill her children, as previously reported, citing police. Prosecutors added, per the Republic, that Inoue had a meat cleaver with her.
According to police, Inoue said at the time that she went to bed and woke up early that morning with blood on her hands and arms and that her two children were dead and bloody near the bedroom doorway.
When police arrived at the scene, they found the children dead with their bodies under a blanket and boxes, “which appeared to have been used to minimally conceal them,” police previously said in a statement. Authorities also said the children had multiple cuts and amputations “consistent with a violent attack and with defensive wounds.”
Prosecutors argued Inoue carefully planned the murders, while her defense team contended that the mother didn’t have enough strength to commit the murders and said there were no eyewitnesses to the slayings, AZ Family reports.
“Mia and Kai Inoue were sleeping soundly in their beds when their own mother came into their bedroom holding a knife,” prosecutors said, per AZ Family. “A meat cleaver, that is literally designed to cut the bones of animals. And she attacked them with it. She had to think. She had to act. And there’s nothing unclear or speculative about any of that.”
Prior to the murders, Inoue had been investigated by the Arizona Department of Child Services for alleged neglect, records show. While the investigation did not find evidence to remove the children from the home, it was still open at the time of their deaths.
