Mother Who Walked Into Surf Arraigned in Children’s Deaths
A Tarzana mother who walked into the Santa Monica surf last week in what police said was an apparent effort to drown herself and her two young children was arraigned this morning in Santa Monica Municipal Court on two murder charges in the drowning deaths of the youngsters.
Fumiko Kimura, 32, entered no plea at the morning proceeding and was assigned a public defender.
During the arraignment, Municipal Judge Rex H. Minter asked the woman if she understood English. With her head bowed, Kimura replied “yes” and asked the judge to speak slowly while the murder charges were read.
The district attorney is seeking that Kimura be eligible for the death penalty if convicted because the alleged crime involved a multiple murder. Kimura was reportedly despondent over marital problems and homesick for her native Japan when she carried the children, a 4-year-old son and a 6-month-old daughter, into the ocean. Passers-by pulled the three out.
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