A woman who was found drunk with her 10-month-old son dead beside her Monday at their apartment in Kariya, Aichi Prefecture, told her husband that she had intended to drink herself to death with her son, police said Tuesday.
Police suspect that the 30-year-old woman, whose name is being withheld, killed the baby by having him drink alcohol mixed in milk, and then later attempted suicide, they said.
The husband, Hisanori Ikeya, 35, found their son, Makoto, apparently unconscious when he returned home from work around 7:45 p.m. He called an ambulance but the baby was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Ikeya quoted the wife as telling him when he found her and the baby: "I have been drinking with my child all day long. I was planning to die."
When Kariya police examined blood samples of Makoto, they found 0.3 mg of alcohol per 1 ml of blood.
One of the milk bottles scattered on the floor of the apartment contained milk mixed with a substance that smelled like alcohol, police said.
Also, an empty bottle of "awamori" distilled liquor and two partly empty bottles of whiskey were found in the room.
There were no signs of external wounds on Makoto's body, police said, adding that they were still trying to determine the cause of death.
Kariya police said the woman had left a message on her computer reading, "We planned to die together."
According to Ikeya, his wife had been despondent since May about raising the boy, wrongly believing he was disabled.
The wife visited a local child counseling center four times in June and July, saying she suspected her baby suffered from autism. However, experts at the center concluded the boy did not show such symptoms and believed his condition was improving.