A mother, Yui Inoue Arizona Chid Killer, was found guilty of murdering her two children with a meat cleaver, as reported by various news outlets.
On Monday, February 24, Yui Inoue was convicted of first-degree murder, child abuse, and disorderly conduct related to the 2021 fatalities of her 9-year-old daughter, Mia Inoue, and her 7-year-old son, Kai Inoue, as reported by AZ Family, The Arizona Republic, and Fox 10 Phoenix from the courtroom.
Yui Inoue, 44, was absent from Maricopa County Court when her verdict was announced, having renounced her right to be present throughout the trial, as reported by the Republic.
Prosecutors contended that Inoue murdered her children as an act of retribution against her husband following a contentious dispute on financial demands during their divorce, according to 12 News. On May 15, 2021, the husband departed and contacted the Tempe police, who subsequently arrived to the residence. The authorities observed negligible damage in the flat and reported that the youngsters were asleep, according to the outlet.
Later that day, when officers revisited the same residence in Tempe, Arizona, to assess the welfare of the children, they discovered a gruesome scene. The search was initiated by Yui Inoue, who visited a Tempe Police Department substation and informed an officer that she heard voices instructing her to kill her children referencing police sources. Prosecutors stated, according to the Republic, that Inoue possessed a meat cleaver.
Police reported that Yui Inoue stated she went to bed and awoke early that morning with blood on her hands and arms, discovering her two children deceased and bloodied near the bedroom doorway.
Upon the police’s arrival at the scene, they discovered the children deceased, their corpses covered by a blanket and boxes, which seemed to have been employed to provide minimal concealment, as stated by the police earlier. Authorities stated that the children exhibited numerous lacerations and amputations indicative of a brutal assault and defensive injuries.
Prosecutors asserted that Yui Inoue meticulously orchestrated the murders, however her defence team claimed that the mother lacked the physical capability to carry out the killings and noted the absence of eyewitnesses to the homicides, according to AZ Family.
According to prosecutors, Mia and Kai Inoue were peacefully slumbering in their beds when their mother entered their bedroom wielding a knife. A meat cleaver, specifically engineered to sever animal bones. She assailed them with it. She needed to contemplate. She needed to take action. There is nothing ambiguous or conjectural regarding any of that.
Before the murders, Yui Inoue was investigated by the Arizona Department of Child Services for purported negligence, according to records. The inquiry did not uncover evidence warranting the removal of the children from the household, yet it remained ongoing at the time of their deaths.
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