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Mother On Trial For Suffocating Son Who Told Her He’d Rather Play Nintendo DS Than Breathe

DS

More news about a senseless death over a Nintendo console has emerged this week, as a mother of four children named Shizu Shigeta is now being tried in Tokyo for killing her five-year-old over his Nintendo DS. While on trial, Shigeta admitted responsibility for the death of her son, who she sealed inside two garbage bags after arguing with him about the handheld console and the mess he had left in their living room.

On September 1st, 2012, stressed from work and lack of sleep, Shigeta became angered by the mess her children had made in the house. She tossed her son’s DS into a garbage bag with several toys, then consumed several sleeping pills and a glass of shochu whiskey, only to awake the next morning to her five-year-old, Koshi, inquiring about his missing DS. Furious over her son’s attitude, and still reeling from her night of intoxication, the mother of four lashed out at the boy, asking him “Would you rather breathe or play DS?”

Koshi responded by saying “I’d rather play DS,” at which point the mother became enraged, binding the boy’s hands and feet with twine, and covering his eyes and mouth with tape. She then sealed him inside two garbage bags and passed out. By the time she awoke from the boy’s father arriving home, Koshi was unconscious. He died three days later from hypoxic encephalopathy, or brain damage caused by lack of oxygen.

Having been forced to listen to recounts of the incident in court, Shigeta claims to only recall “fragments” of the event. Amazingly, on account of the circumstances and her apparent devastation over her son’s death, the prosecution is only asking for a sentence of four years in prison.

243 thoughts on “Mother On Trial For Suffocating Son Who Told Her He’d Rather Play Nintendo DS Than Breathe”

    1. wow… poor kid… how can this idiot of a parent not know that her kid that she put in a bag was not going to Suffocate!

          1. thats a bit too harsh seeing as people kill unborn children frequently, why such a more harsh sentence for a “late” abortion lol

            1. You’re an idiot. This woman took the life of her child, and if you find it humorous you mustn’t be all there.

          2. To be fair, the kid was probably a scumbag and her job was probably walmart cashier level or something. But obviously she didn’t need to do that, just a beating would have done.

  1. Woah. There’s a lot of crazy people out there. It doesn’t matter how stressed or angry you are, you never kill your children. And I think it’s pretty obvious to say that Nintendo has nothing to do with this, they could’ve been arguing about anything (like pizza, for example).

    1. I like how everyone whose reading this quickly assumes she killed her son in purpose. If tpu read it correctly, it says she tied up her son in a bag and then she passed out. I’m going to guess she tried to scare him by being aggressive. But she fainted from fatigue and thus the results. Its basically a bad situation gone drastically wrong. 4 years seenx reasonable since it was unintentional and she was also weak minded from work, sleep, and anger

      1. It still isn’t an accident though, because you are not allowed to STUFF PEOPLE INTO GARBAGE BAGS! She would get charged just for that if her son hadn’t died. But, because he did die it is murder. She should go to jail for life!

      2. I don’t think four years is reasonable – whether or not she made a mistake while under stress and anger, it still resulted in the death of her son. And if her mental state of health is so fragile, she does need help of some form.

        However, I think all the other commenters are simplifying this far too much. Yes, the mother went completely overboard. But people are apparently ignoring the fact that she was stressed, exhausted, and angry at the fact that she would have to clean up after her children’s laziness. She was under the influence of alcohol, pills… I don’t think the boy chose a very good time to joke around or be bratty.

        It does not justify anything that she did – but don’t say that she purposely killed her son only because he wanted to play on his DS. That’s completely exaggerating and twisting the situation.

        1. Ok but when you said he didn’t choose a good time, since when does a five yr old choose time or pay attention to the people around

      3. If you thinking tying up your child and tossing him in a garbage bag is ok punishment and the death was a “bad situation gone drastically wrong” then i hope any children you have are taking away and you are sterilized. Get some help and learn to spell.

      4. I see where you’re getting at, but still wrapping a 5 year old in twine and shutting their eyes and mouth shouldn’t even be done in the first place, also. it doesn’t mention when and where she passes out. she could have passed out five minutes after going into her room and falling asleep it or even longer.

      5. if you are tied in a plasticbag you will eventuly sufficate of pass out it also leads to many problems that are fatal. The mother was an ideot and did not know basic science. It mother should be locked aweay for life

    2. The way I understand it, she was under the influence of sleeping pills and alcohol from the night before, and the death appears unintentional (she can only remember fragments of what happened). Parents sometimes get overly stressed and react inappropriately, and on the most god awful rare occasion, a death occurs, (not to mention, alcohol and excessive medication, forget that they shouldn’t be taken together ever, inhibit and impair judgment, causing things like this)

      1. Yeah, you shouldn’t really get much lenience for something being “unintentional” when you /intentionally/ cripple your ability to think rationally by mixing sleeping pills and alchohol (a HUGE no-no) and then commit an obviously dangerous act that could’ve been fatal even if she tried to remove it right away.

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  3. This is truly a tragedy. She ended the life of an innocent kid with a future just because he wanted to play a goddamn Nintendo DS! Seriously it’s pathetic how people see live as a joke, and just kill others like if it qas something worthless, life is only one, an only opportunity, yet she finished the one his son has over an electronic device that is just pure entertainment. What a load of shit really.

      1. Or a phone and those are more addictive. I have see adult go crazy cuz the can’t log in to Facebook from their phones.

    1. You can joke about Nintendo, you can joke about its fan base, you can joke about those fans parents, but you, no matter how much of a sadistic ass piece of mother fucking shit ass troll you are should never make fun of a child dying. Your not even making fun of Nintendo what purpose do you serve in life? So sincerely, from every human being on the planet, FUCK YOU. Honestly if your trying to troll me based off a kids death, your a psychopath. Rot in hell, literally.

        1. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfa_Qu-4djk)

          It’s basically a notebook, that when you write the name of a person in it, they will die within 40 seconds if heart attack if the death is not specified. A boy name Light Yagami finds it and uses it to kill criminals, but goes a little insane admittedly. If he was real, he’d use it on this bitch. She deserves a death penalty to be honest.

  4. YOU FUCKING BITCH, I HOPE YOU GET WHAT YOU DESERVE IN PRISON CUNT!! BITCH DESERVES TO GET HER ASS BEATEN TILL SHE IS A FEW BRETHS AWAY FROM DEATH!!

    1. So you’d rather put a handheld game first instead of your responsibility? Yeah she deserves prison for killing a child, but hell I’d smack my kid if he was a smartass.

      1. its just a fucking mess, thats what kids do. if you teach them a lesson, it not by them being in a garbage bag tied up!! dumb bitch.

      2. Like the things are right now you probably end in jail too. I’m up for discipline, a hit now may save your kid life’s tomorrow.

        1. its the parents fault, she should of discipline her kids and things like this would rarely happen, now you cant even yell at your kids without getting a call from child service.

          1. Right! And in the future they turn out being criminals thanks to the government also there are some kids that themselves call it f you don’t let them go to a party.

          2. no kids say that stuff all the time the problem was that the mother was a dumb ass and decided to turtore ther kid

      3. If smacking was the problem, we wouldnt be here. I hate that some parents think their children are supposed to worship them because they gave life to them. Smacking is not the same as killing or beating the crap out of your child

      4. How is he being a smartass? He’s a five year old. If he was like ten or in his teens, then yeah, he’s being a smartass.

        When asked “DS vs breathing”, he probably thought “playing games on the DS or deep breathing like in yoga”.

        Keep in mind he’s a five year old – he probably doesn’t even know breathing is done constantly unconsciously. He probably thought the mother was referring to controlled deep breathing.

        1. Depending what country/state/nation U’re in, beating Ur kids may or may not be legal. Seems the poorer & more ignorant they are, the less likely you’ll be punished for abuse. If hitting Ur kids is Ur way of discipline, then U don’t deserve to have ’em.

          1. And yes, smacking qualifies as unwanted physical abuse in the same way that smacking your wife would be. The difference being that she’d probably have more smarts to throw you in jail for it and leave you.

  5. She deserves worse than prison, and if she gets four years, I hope some exacts the justice she deserves. It’ll probably be done by herself.

  6. Total BS I think she should get life in prison >:( ! Just imagining how that kid felt in his last moments on earth … it makes me want to cry :( . And all that fail of a “mother” gets is a couple yrs in jail while her son is gone from this world forever just makes me sick !

    1. that bitch deserves to get abused in prison, and people there dont like anything about chid abuse, have fun bitch.

    1. yeah you are one of those freak nintendo fanboys who support killing. your like AsheVillain, your pathetic. just what i would see from such a fanboy.

      1. Seriously, blaming Nintendo fans for being like that ape?…

        First of all this has nothing to do with anything related to any fanboys…

        And the N-Dub Nation team, or atleast a few of their members do not speak for the rest of our empire!

        1. Well it wasn’t trolling as much as it was pointing out how incredibly ridiculous her decision to tie up her kid and put him in a garbage bag was.

      1. You don’t know what sarcasm is because it didn’t sound sarcastic in any way…

        Now go away and die somewhere…

        1. Says the fake bitch w/o a WiiU always comenting on how good it is.

          How could you interpret what I said to be anything other then sarcasm, you would need to have an IQ of less then 50 to think otherwise.

          1. Is that the best you can’t do? He says that you are the shit of the earth and your reply is a childish rant about how he expressing his love for a toy? Go and jump from a building and if you survive don’t come back.

    2. Honestly, I have little respect for trolls normally, when they’re bitching about Pokemon or Zelda or something of the like, but a child died, you waste of valuable resources! Have some sort of empathy for a fellow human, actually, I don’t think you deserve the title of human! Whether one likes Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft, we should all feel disgusted that this bitch KILLED HER SON and is getting 4 YEARS!! How f**ked up is that? You, you waste of life, go away. Just go away, and never speak to ANYONE ever again. You’re just wasting their time.

        1. Escapism/recurring to the Internet isn’t the solution. Closing Ur eyes to what goes on around U won’t change a thing&niether will prayer,it’s just a selfish means to make Urself feel better,like this drunk,while doing nothing to cause an actual change.

              1. Except, Someone, one can be balanced. There’s no law, whether natural or man-made, that says you can’t partake in a healthy dose of escapism/recreation while still working towards goals of betterment in the community.

                I play games and read comics (which are both forms of escapism by the way – considering you’re on a gaming site, your comment is a bit hypocritical) while at the same time volunteering in the community with children who are at a disadvantage because of medical reasons, broken families, or because of economical reasons.

                I donate to charities several times throughout the year. I volunteer with personal improvement programs to help others improve their quality of life by basic education, guidance, and counseling. I engage in discussions on how problems can be solved and join with many others to do our share of helping in any little area we can.

                I get involved in a lot of community volunteer programs in my area and I have even traveled to other parts of the state and outside the state to do the same.

                Sure, closing your eyes to the problems of the world is selfish. But dwelling on problems isn’t healthy either. You have to strike a balance. You can have escapism and positive activities to help change lives for the better too.

                1. There’s no man-made law that says irresponsible or dirt poor parents are forbidden to bear children either. The wonderful thing about the Internet’s that you can be whatever you want, for example, I’m an astronaut by day & a doctor by night. ;)

                  1. There are laws like that in some countries. lol In other countries, there are laws that will remove your children from you if you’re an irresponsible parent or one who can not take care of your children.

                    1. Good to know, it may seem selfish to some, but I think controlling birth rate would solve a wide range of problems more so than actually feeding or giving hand outs.

                2. Considering I never replied to a comment that said the world is a fucked up place with “escapism ftw”, I’d not be hypocritical in that sense. I never did say a healthy dosage of escapism was a bad thing, we all waste time, one way or another.

                3. All I mentioned was that it wouldn’t solve anything.

                  *A normal dosage of escapism & helping create a brighter future when not recurring to video games to escape this world because it’s too dark and twisted to harbor ftw. (Much better.)

                4. “Jokes”aside, if what U say is factual then that’s admirable.Personally,I like to counsel PPL who have trouble finding solutions for their hard lives as well as volunteer to help mistreated animals,I also have a community watch set up in my neighbourhood.

                  1. It’s factual. Whether or not you believe me is not my concern. I rarely talk about my volunteer work, because it’s not important for people to know that I do it. What’s important is that I do it and people are actually helped by it.

                    I don’t do as much as I used to because of family responsibilities and failing health though. I wish I could do more.

                    If you do that work too that you say, that’s great. Keep it up.

                    1. I agree, that parts not important, my intentions weren’t seeking appraisal from peers, I was only pointing out that too much escapism’s a bad thing&if U hate the world for what it is, then recurring to video games wasn’t going to make it a better place.

                5. But am I being sincere?? You’ll just have to take my word for it. >:D

                  And once a positive future is achieved (highly doubtful), then either the sun, colliding galaxy, astroid, black hole, etc. will instantly destroy that illusion! …Um, help me god!

                  1. can both u fags commit a suicide pact? tht goes 4 any1 who h8s the world 2. srsly u h8 it thet much gtfo the world aint gona change baby get reel. axept it 4 wat it is or jump off a bridge

  7. Nintendo is my Blood

    Poor child, all he wanted was his toy back, why would anyone be mad at a five year old for making a mess, its natural, but to think first the Wii/Wee radio station crisis and now this, people need to relax about these things

    1. if this was my mom i would have been dead, same with most other kids. they make messes, they play and dont pick up!! dumb bitch!!

  8. wow. if this worthless sad excuse for a parent gets any less than life without parole, it will be a great injustice for the kid.

  9. this is the most fucked up and sad thing I’ve ever read, seriously? i DON’T CARE HOW mad you are at your kid you don’t kill them! (ESPECIALLY over something so stupid as this!) this bitch deserves A LOT longer than just 4 years this bitch deserves to spend the rest of her life in jail!

                    1. I know this is NOT the place, but that was the funniest thing I ever read. I’ve never seen troll vs troll like that.

  10. The death penalty would probably be exactly what this obvious mental case wants… so they’d win. I’ll never understand the so-called “logic” behind the concept to begin, though.

  11. Four years in prison? That’s it?

    You take away a young boy’s entire future, which could be as long as 80 years, and she only has four years taken away from her?

    If it’s going to be that short, you might as well not send her to prison so she could try to take care of her other three children. That is, if she still has rights to their custody.

  12. I don’t even see the reasoning in killing a kid who prefers to breathe over playing a 3DS. HE’S A KID! He probably doesn’t even know that we all breathe unconsciously and probably thought she was referring to controlled deep breathes.

    Yes, true, she was drunk, but how drunk would you be if you were able to hold down a kid (who have a lot of energy), twine his hands and feet, tape his eyes and mouth, and stuff him in a two bags without letting much oxygen in.

  13. Ehm…

    Pls don’t upload this type of things, even though is Nintendo DS related, this is too sad for a gaming news web >_<

  14. 4 years?? That’s it?
    She had anger problems, didn’t drink responsibly and killed her son…

    I don’t care if it were an accident or what, these are serious offenses (especially committing murder). In the first place, she should never drink to that level of intoxication ever, especially if she’s around her kids!

    She should have been pinned for 10 years or more for acting that irresponsibly! Not being able to recall everything she did shouldn’t excuse it, she made the decision to drink herself stupid!!

  15. That’s too harsh to kill someone over a handheld gaming console, especially when it’s just a five year old boy. He had a whole life ahead of him. She deserves to be imprisoned. I would put her in prison for longer than 4 years.

  16. WHAT THE FUCK! NONO NO THATS HORRIBLE!
    This women desrves much worse for killing her owm child, stupid intoxicated bitch needs to die or trial for life

  17. What the absolute hell is happening to this world of ours.
    Who suffocates their child of them reeeeaaaly liking a game console.
    R.I.P

      1. My condolences, but thousands of kids day every day. You hear about one and you want everyone to mourn about it? I’m not trying to be edgy or anything but don’t get on someone for not caring.

  18. I hear of death that occured in some relation with video games now and then, but this is an unusual case. This time, it’s not the parent who killed the child over losing a game, or the child who killed himself over great loss within the context of the game, or the child who killed the parent because “the game made him do it”, but the parent who killed the child over the video game he wanted to play.

    Anyway, I’m thoroughly disgusted, both at her actions, and at her retribution (lack thereof).

  19. How strong are the garbage bags in Japan? Cause even with your hands tied your can still easily rip and poke holes in garbage bags with your fingers…

    1. The kid was 5, he wouldn’t be able to rip anything, especially due to lack of oxygen!
      If he was ten years older, that question might be valid….
      On a side note, I feel sorry for the kid! He had more than 80 years ahead of him, and who knows, he might’ve been the special one that could save the world from pollution!!
      Rest in peace

  20. Honestly, I don’t condone what she did. I think she should spend more years in prison, her children should be taken away from her & she should lose her right to bear any more. I’m not sure if I can agree that she deserves a horrible death, however…

    1. …Though I can’t blame PPL who think she does. Children & adults alike die everyday, reading something like this isn’t surprising to me, I’ve read worse & for those who do find it surprising, I’ve gotta question what planet have they been living on?

      1. In regions, like Africa, where poverty is abundant, children are used & sold as slaves, abused, raped, & die of hunger everyday. I don’t think that’ll ever change for obvious reasons, & no one here seems to care abt. them. 1 Asian kid dies&everyone cries.

        1. I won’t describe any of them, but there’s some horrific videos found on Bestgore, crying, well right now I’m figuring out how whether or not I should see a therapist. “100 honesty” I’m not trolling you man, stay away from those videos if you value your sanity.

          1. If U research torture methods used on POW, that’ll make U cringe as well, unless U’re the odd type who gets turned on by things like that. *__o

            Some of the things Spaniards, led by the bible, did to the Indians was also disgusting to study.

      2. Everyone thinks they deserve to have children&not enough PPL believe there should be a limit or a license to have kids(especially the religious hypocrites).

        1. Bottom line: if U have anger/mental issues,can’t afford to feed Urself,much less kids,have a below average IQ level,or are too busy to spend quality time w/Ur kids or properly raise them,then U should’nt have any to begin with. “Love” doesn’t feed kids.

  21. Sort of poetic justice in that gamers normally receive criticism of being influenced into committing violent acts everytime someone goes on a shooting spree. Now a gamer is on the receiving end of that violence, proving that video games don’t necessarily cause violence.

  22. For a while, I thought the trial thing happened because the boy said he would rather play a DS, which I find too far to take serious, but then that wasn’t what this was.

    I can’t believe that parent did this! :( I think maybe parents need to be less strict with anger, so things like this would not happen.

  23. fuken crybabys thee kid choose his own fate who faults it was thet he retarded? u cen tell a retard from a normal kid soon as he leurn 2 speek. now in hell he play ds all he wunt wit horoshit n satan lol

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