A Kalihi woman who told police she tried to kill her 79-year-old mother as part of a suicide pact appeared in Honolulu District Court yesterday morning to face an attempted-murder charge.

A public defender representing Janet Wakimura, 48, said in court that Wakimura is not guilty, although yesterday’s appearance did not require a formal plea.

Wakimura was being held on $50,000 bail.

An Oahu grand jury indicted her later on a charge of second-degree attempted murder, sending the case to Circuit Court.

Wakimura told police that she stabbed her mother, Yoshi, once in the neck with a kitchen knife on Sept. 29 as part of a suicide pact with her.

A relative at yesterday morning’s hearing said the victim remains in the hospital recovering from the injury.

Janet Wakimura lived with her mother and was her sole care provider.

She told a police officer that "she was tired of taking care of her mother and that she could no longer do it," according to a police statement filed in court. "She further related that she and her mother had made an agreement that if one died, the other should die also," the affidavit said.

Wakimura told the officer she stabbed her mother once in the chest and throat area but could not carry through with stabbing herself and instead called for help, police said.

Officers had a difficult time talking to Yoshi Wakimura because her English is limited, the affidavit said.

Janet Wakimura also admitted to a social worker that she had stabbed her mother but could not finish a "suicide pact" the two had made, the affidavit said.

Janet Wakimura told a doctor that she was depressed. She was arrested Wednesday morning as she was released from the Queen’s Medical Center, where she had been held in the psychiatric ward.