Tempe mom convicted of killing her two kids sentenced to life in prison

PHOENIX — A Tempe mom convicted of killing her two young children was handed two life sentences for their deaths.

A jury convicted Yui Inoue in February of killing her children, 9-year-old Mia and 7-year-old Kai, back in May 2021.  The trial lasted about two weeks and Inoue waived her right to be in the courtroom during her own trial.

But at her sentencing, she had to be present in the courtroom and face her convictions.

The murders happened nearly four years ago at the family’s apartment in May 2021.

Police visited the home hours before the murders when Inoue was apparently threatening her husband.  Prosecutors believe Inoue killed her kids with a meat cleaver after the police visit to get back at her husband because they were going through a divorce.

12News previously reported that Inoue told police that voices told her to kill her children. She said she went to bed with her kids and woke up to see blood, but told police she didn’t remember hurting them.

At sentencing Friday, one of the prosecutors told the court this case created trauma for all involved.

“This has been one of the most difficult cases that the investigators, the crime scene specialists and lawyers on both sides have ever worked on,” she said.

The prosecutor detailed how Mia and Kai would be starting their teenage years had their mother not murdered them and how Inoue hadn’t demonstrated any remorse.

The children’s uncle told the court how the immense grief has impacted his family.  Mia and Kai’s former principal from Kyrene del Cielo also read an impact statement.

“Their absence from our school community has been felt every day since their death,” said former principal Tammy Thaete. “We miss their warm and welcoming smiles. We miss their gentle spirits.  We miss their infectious giggles.”

Thaete said one of the hardest things to do was to guide the school community through the murders of their students, their friends.

“Although they were both children, I want this court to know their short lives mattered,” Thaete said as her voice choked up.

Inoue’s defense attorney said the defendant had mental health issues and that she was involuntarily evaluated twice in the months leading up to her children’s deaths.

Through a Japanese translator in court, Inoue denied that her kids were dead.

“My children are not dead,” the translator said, reciting what Inoue was telling her.  “My parents have them. They are spending their time with my parents.”

12News previously reported that DCS was also investigating Yui Inoue for alleged neglect after police say Yui Inoue disappeared with her son Kai before the pair was found and Kai was returned to his father.

DCS said in that investigation, it did not find evidence to remove the children from the home, but the investigation was still open at the time of the deaths.

Throughout the police investigation, questions were raised about Inoue’s mental health, but a judge ruled that that topic couldn’t be brought up at trial.

Inoue was ultimately convicted on all charges, including murder, child abuse and disorderly conduct.

Even the judge was rendered nearly speechless in this case, saying “words can’t adequately describe” what happened.

“I can’t imagine what those children went through,” said Judge Jeffrey Rueter.  “In their last minutes.  The fear, the suffering. It’s incomprehensible.”

She was sentenced to two life sentences for the murder charges, 17 years for each child abuse charge and 1 year for disorderly conduct.  The judge ordered that all sentences were to be served consecutively.