Overview

• The Fukuoka District Court sentenced the 45-year-old mother to three years in prison with a five-year suspension following a jury trial on her daughter’s death.
• No appeal was filed by the August 1 deadline, making the suspended sentence final and placing the mother under probation supervision.
• Judges applied mitigating circumstances based on the defendant’s prolonged caregiving of her daughter with spinal muscular atrophy, resulting in a sentence below the statutory minimum of five years.
• The court condemned the mother’s intent to involve her seven-year-old daughter in a planned suicide pact prior to removing the child’s ventilator.
• The decision underscores the judiciary’s challenge of balancing legal accountability with compassion for defendants facing extreme caregiving burdens.