Yui Inoue, a 44-year-old mother from Arizona, was sentenced to two consecutive life terms on Friday for the brutal murder of her two children, aged 7 and 9. The sentencing was handed down by Maricopa County Superior Judge Jeffrey Rueter, who expressed his horror at the gruesome nature of the crime. Inoue, who communicated through a Japanese interpreter, maintained her belief that her children were still alive.
Inoue was convicted of the horrific crime in February 2021, following a trial that revealed chilling details of the murders. Prosecutors stated that Inoue attacked her children, Mia and Kai, with a meat cleaver while they were sleeping. The jury found her guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of child abuse, the latter charges stemming from a previous investigation by the Arizona Department of Child Safety.
Inoue reportedly claimed to have heard voices instructing her to kill her children. After the murders, she called 911 and then sought out police officers at a substation near Arizona State University. Speaking primarily in Japanese, she confessed to the officers about the murders. When authorities arrived at her apartment, they discovered the mutilated bodies of her children.
Inoue later told police that she woke up with blood on her hands and found her children dead and covered in blood. She then took a bath and slowly came to terms with the violent act she had committed. Her defense attorneys argued that Inoue had no memory of the murders. A blood-soaked meat cleaver was found in the vehicle she drove to the police station.
During the trial, Maricopa County prosecutor Shaylee Beasley described the gruesome details of the crime, stating that Inoue had attempted to decapitate her children. Beasley also suggested that the murders were connected to a contentious divorce Inoue was undergoing with the children’s father.
Inoue’s defense attorney, Rebecca Felmly, had argued that there was reasonable doubt in the case, pointing out that Inoue was a small, slight woman who lacked the physical strength to inflict the injuries found on the children. However, the jury was not swayed by this argument.
Inoue was also convicted of child abuse charges related to a report made by her husband in March 2021, just months before the murders. The report claimed that Inoue had disappeared with their son Kai, but they were later found behind a convenience store. Inoue was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, and Kai was returned to his father. Despite this incident, the Department of Child Safety found no evidence of abuse or neglect that would warrant removing the children from the home.