IBARAKI (TR) – A 42-year-old mother accused of murdering her two young children at their home in Mito City admitted to the charges during her first trial on Wednesday, while her defense team sought an acquittal on the grounds of insanity, reports TBS News (Oct. 15)
“There is no mistake,” Akiko Ota told the court, acknowledging the indictment against her.
Ota is accused of using a kitchen knife to fatally stab her 8-year-old son, Tsuguma, and her 5-year-old daughter, Riko, in the neck at their apartment in Mito City in July 2023.
During the hearing, prosecutors outlined a grim motive driven by workplace grievances and severe mental distress. They stated that Ota had grown deeply dissatisfied with a shift in management policy at the restaurant where she worked. This triggered a severe distrust of others and ultimately drove her to contemplate suicide.
According to the prosecution, Ota tragically reasoned, “My children cannot live without me. If we die, we can be together in heaven.”
While prosecutors acknowledged that Ota’s mental state had some influence on the crime, they argued that the impact was “not significant” and maintained that she is fully criminally responsible for the brutal slayings.
Conversely, Ota’s defense team argued for a complete acquittal, claiming that the mother was in a state of mental incompetence at the time of the killings and therefore cannot be held criminally liable.