Photo/Illutration The home in Yamato, Kanagawa Prefecture, of Ayano Ueda, who was arrested on Feb. 20 on suspicion of murdering her second son. (Rikuri Kuroda)

YOKOHAMA—Police on Feb. 20 arrested a woman on suspicion of murdering her son in 2019 and have opened an investigation into the earlier death of another one of her sons, sources said.

Kanagawa prefectural police said Ayano Ueda, 42, who lives in Yamato, Kanagawa Prefecture, has denied that she killed Yudai, 7.

“I did nothing wrong,” police quoted Ueda, a self-described nursing assistant, as saying.

Police suspect Ueda covered Yudai’s nose and mouth at her apartment between around 8:45 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Aug. 6, 2019, leading to the death of the elementary school first-grader.

According to investigative sources, Ueda made an emergency call for an ambulance, saying that her son’s health condition had suddenly deteriorated.

The boy was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Police found inconsistencies between the mother’s explanation and the condition of Yudai’s body. An autopsy indicated the boy had been suffocated.

After seeking the opinions of multiple doctors, police concluded that Yudai did not have any pre-existing conditions that could bring about a sudden death. They judged that he was killed through force and decided to arrest Ueda on suspicion of murder.

Ueda also had a third son with a man who was living with her. That boy was around 1 year old when he died a few years before Yudai’s death.

Police are now investigating the earlier death.

(This article was written by Shinjiro Omiya and Yoichiro Kodera.)

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