Woman to receive mental health treatment after attempted murder of son at Half Moon Bay beach

Chiyoda will instead receive treatment at Gooden Center in Pasadena for six months and her progress will be monitored by the court, Wagstaffe said. She’ll also be required to take anti-depressant medication after the program concludes.

“It’s an outcome that pleases me. We accomplished real justice here today and that was something other than convict her of attempted murder and lock her up,” Wagstaffe said. “Locking them up is not always the avenue we do as DA.”

Mitri Hanania, who represents Chiyoda, expressed a similar sentiment.

“I really do appreciate what everyone worked out together to get this woman treatment as opposed to continued confinement in jail or prison,” he said. “This process isn’t complete yet. There’s still a lot more work for her to do, but we have a very thought-out process of treatment and protection of all parties involved.”

Chiyoda, who immigrated from Japan in 2012, suffered from severe depression since the birth of her second son and tried multiple times to kill herself before the attempt for which she was arrested for attempted murder, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

On Jan. 15, 2019, at about 3 p.m., San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office deputies received a call regarding a possible suicide at the beach. They arrived and found Chiyoda and the infant son both soaking wet in 56-degree weather, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Chiyoda was seen acting strangely minutes earlier and had entered the water with the infant in what investigators later learned was an attempted murder-suicide. Both she and the baby were treated for hypothermia and were taken to a hospital for further evaluation, sheriff’s officials said.

After detectives spoke with her and she was released from the hospital, Chiyoda was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. The baby was also released from the hospital into the custody of Child Protective Services, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Both sons have been with their father since Chiyoda was sent to jail and she will likely be reunited with them without restrictions upon completion of her program, Wagstaffe said. 

“It’s a story that could could’ve been a horrific tragedy. The two could’ve died if she walked into the ocean,” Wagstaffe said, adding the child was not harmed. “Instead we provided mental health treatment and that’s a good outcome.”

Wagstaffe said Chiyoda’s depression was driven in large part by loneliness. With her husband working in Silicon Valley, she spent her days alone with the children in a condo, unable to socialize because she couldn’t speak English and there were no Japanese speakers around her.

Chiyoda has spent the past nearly year-and-a-half in jail, where she has received “spectacular” mental health treatment and also learned how to speak English, Wagstaffe said.

Hanania also praised the treatment his client received in jail, and said she’s gone through a “transformation” while there.  

“It was a great collaborative effort by all parties involved to figure out a way to get this woman the help she needed,” Hanania said.

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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