The car in which an 11-month-old baby boy was left while his mother played pachinko.

Baby boy dies in locked car while mother plays pachinko in Akita

Friday 28th August, 10:22 AM JST

AKITA —

An 11-month-old baby boy died in a locked car after his mother left him to go and play pachinko for nearly three hours in Yurihonjo, Akita Prefecture, on Thursday afternoon. Police on Friday morning arrested the baby’s mother, 31-year-old Junko Hori, on a charge of abandonment resulting in death.

According to police, Hori left the child, Ryusei, in the car between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. She parked her car at the end of the large parking lot and closed all the windows, leaving Ryusei buckled in his childseat. When she returned to the car, she found Ryusei lifeless and took him to a nearby hospital, where he was confirmed dead soon after. Doctors believe he died due to dehydration.

There was no shade in the parking lot, and at the entrance of the pachinko parlor was a poster warning parents not to leave their children in the car.

According to the Akita area meteorological observatory, the temperature on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in the area was 29.3 degrees.

News reports

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Latest 15 of 98 Total Comments Show All

Icewind007 at 03:12 AM JST - 29th August

I read about this all the time throughout the world... But this person, this had to be worse than simple forgetfulness. She didn't care.
bushlover at 06:27 AM JST - 29th August

This is like smokers ignoring the warnings that it causes cancer. There have been enough incidents like this that she should have known of the danger of leaving an infant in a sealed car for 3 hours during peak daytime temperatures. 100 lashings of the cane is my recommendation.
AK619 at 07:57 AM JST - 29th August

I think she should go to prision for life. This was not an accident, it was a premeditated murder because she rolled up the windows and despite the signs saying not leave a child unattended in a car. She felt her child was a mistake and a future burden on her, so she killed the child on purpose knowing it would die from over heating. She is a disgrace and a killer, maybe she should get the death penalty. People sure are using Pachinko parking lots as an pretext to murder their children. How many babies and kids are going to keep dying by this method in Japan? Stop having babies only to bring them here to die.
USARonin at 08:25 AM JST - 29th August

On its surface, this isn't premeditated murder.

You have to prove intent to kill.

Unless she confessed a plan prior to this event, you got a long row to hoe before chargin' anyone with 'premeditated murder'.

Rumpole for the Bailey Ronin
AK619 at 08:52 AM JST - 29th August

@USARonin:

It was premeditated murder. The intent to kill, was that she refused to obey the postings in the parking lot that clearly said, "Do not leave a child in the car alone". She showed further intent to kill by rolling up the car windows tight, knowing that the car would become very hot on a summer day. She knew the child could possibly die without having fresh air coming into the car, would die by over heating. At the age of 31 years old, she was not some 13 year old immature mother. What she did was no different then giving a child a loaded gun to play with, knowing the child could blow out there brains. I hope she rots jail forever!
USARonin at 09:00 AM JST - 29th August

AK, that doesn't constitute 'premeditated murder' although I'll bet in my nation she'd probably be charged with 'grossly negligent homicide' or a homicide due to 'indifference to human life'... if she's charged at all.

I don't know the woman but I'll bet she's like many women I know who're hooked on Pachinko and hannafuda. Their mind goes somewhere else while they obsessively focus their attention on these kinds of gambling.

It's interestin' to see you're in to prisoner abuse and torture. I'm sure you're not one of those fellas that has a problem with Gitmo.
elbudamexicano at 10:00 AM JST - 29th August

This stupid woman in Akita has no business having children! If she is stupid enough to leave her child(11 month old defenseless baby) in a car by himself, she should be locked up for a very long time and well she should also be nurtured, you know just like we do to cats and dogs, make sure this horrible fool never ever has babies again. RIP little baby boy from Akita!
Mexicanish at 09:55 PM JST - 30th August

"... at the entrance of the pachinko parlor was a poster warning parents not to leave their children in the car."

Seriously? You need to be told not to leave your kid in a car? Not only that... but she clearly walked by that sign and chose to ignore it... but I guess if you're going to leave your kid locked up then a warning sign isn't going to stop you.

Ugh. Sick.

I think she wanted him to die.
Blue_Tiger at 03:00 AM JST - 31st August

Let's hipe that the lay judges hand down a harsh, uncompromising sentence. This is a "habit" that needs to go away, and FAST!!!!!
mnemosyne23 at 01:56 AM JST - 1st September

Such a terrible tragedy. Clearly this woman is either mentally defective or criminally negligent. It is PURE COMMON SENSE that you do not leave a child alone. It is PURE COMMON SENSE that you do not leave your child alone in a parked car. It is PURE COMMON SENSE that you do not roll up the windows and park the car in the sun when there is someone or something inside (like a dog, cat, or 11-month-old baby). It is PURE COMMON SENSE that you do not leave a child alone in a parked car in the sun for THREE HOURS while you go play blasted pachinko! Even if by some miracle the child HADN'T died from the heat, what's to stop a passing lunatic from kidnapping the child? A baby, not even a year old? How much would THAT be worth on the baby-selling black market? This woman is clearly at fault for her child's death, and she should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for willful negligence resulting in death.

RIP, little boy.
illsayit at 03:06 PM JST - 1st September

It does seem malicious. Fancy not even checking every now and again, and not not leaving the windows open. Too manipultive. However, the manipulation by the do-gooders would cause more problems. Such as the suggestion that bad parenting and gambling or cigarettes or drinking or even drugs, are in the same bag of problems. Some of the worst parents are your so called do-gooders. Bullying techniques disguised as morales which would cause more pressure and strain. Time and again I can lay truth to that.
Ah_so at 01:25 AM JST - 2nd September

I think pachinko is stupid ... but blaming pachinko for the mother's horribly irresponsible behavior is ridiculous. What if it had been a supermarket parking lot? Does that mean we should speak out against grocery shopping?

It would be just as bad, but people do not think things like, "think I will just pop into the supermarket for ten minutes" and then spend 3 hours there, lost in some weird alternative universe. However, this is how gamblers behave.

In fact, people never spend 3 hours in the supermarket and will probably take the children with them when they do.
Klein2 at 12:36 PM JST - 2nd September

Almighty Darwin, you are merciful to the living when you are cruel to the doomed.

This is a terrible thing, but tell me that this poor child would have had a good life being raised by that? Tell me that we are better off by having a replication of her genetic material in the gene pool for another generation.

Ugh. Has anybody seen this happen in a parking lot and ratted out the mother to shopkeepers? I have. I got the lady called up on a store PA and watched her run out the door with keys in her hand. Has anybody seen someone get a ticket in Las Vegas for leaving ANY ANIMAL in ANY PARKED CAR at ANY TIME OF THE DAY? It is on the books and they WILL cite you. I am not sure what the age is on kids, but basically, nobody stays in the car. It has become common sense.

I agree that prosecutors should go for murder here. How could she not know? How could she not know?
BritAsianinJap at 03:14 PM JST - 2nd September

The woman of this unfortunate child is doubly stupid and irresponsible for not only causing this rather unfortunate death but also for playing the mindless pachinko game.
kokorocloud at 09:25 AM JST - 4th September

Honestly, I do not know how she would not know. Blame it on addiction or what have you, she should be punished for her irresponsibility regardless. That goes for anyone who does this, whether in front of a grocery store parking lot or pachinko. The issue is not where it happened (despite pachinko being a pretty skeezy place for this to occur, and it's tempting to simply blame it on that), but the fact that this woman had no sense of regard for own child, only concerned with doing what she wanted to do. It's sick.