Police in Fukuoka Prefecture have arrested a 30-year-old mother on suspicion of murdering her 4-year-old daughter at a mother-child support facility, and are investigating whether she was involved in another daughter¡¯s death.
The suspect, Naoko Mizunuma, has admitted to the charges, according to investigators.
A mother-child support facility is a welfare institution under the Child Welfare Act that protects single mothers and their children and supports them toward independence.
Police said her second daughter, aged 3, was also found dead at the facility after being strangled.
According to police, Mizunuma was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of attacking her elder daughter, Niiro, with a knife and strangling her with an electrical cord in their room at the facility in the early hours of March 10, causing her to die by asphyxiation.
A staff member at the facility called emergency services that morning, reporting that ¡°a resident is unconscious.¡± Mizunuma and her two daughters were found collapsed at the scene.
The two children were later confirmed dead, while Mizunuma sustained minor injuries to her neck. Police believe that she might?have tried to stage a murder-suicide.
Investigators have since revealed that Mizunuma¡¯s 33-year-old common-law husband had been secretly living with her and the children inside the facility for about three years, despite its 24-hour security, according to a report by the Mainichi Shimbun.
According to investigators, Mizunuma moved into the facility around September 2022 after suffering domestic violence from him. Although she initially cut off contact, the pair later reconciled, and she is believed to have facilitated his entry and moved him into the facility.
Facility staff periodically entered residents¡¯ rooms for interviews and other purposes, but he would hide during those visits, investigators said. For the three years that they were living together, he only went out of the room once, and neither the facility staff nor the other residents were aware of his presence.
Police said that the man told investigators he woke on the morning of March 10 to find the two children lying in the room, bleeding and unconscious. After checking for signs of life and receiving no response, he realized they were dead. He also confirmed Mizunuma was still alive, though bleeding from her neck.
He then jumped from a second-floor balcony, fracturing his leg, and fled to Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, police said.
He was later arrested on suspicion of leaving the injured Mizunuma without assistance, as well as theft, but was released on Thursday.
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