A U.S. Marine allegedly strangled a Japanese woman inside an Okinawa hotel room, killing her, according to local authorities.
Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, was taken into custody at about 1 a.m. Sunday after allegedly robbing and killing Anna Yagi, a 39-year-old local woman, Okinawa prefectural police said.
Police allege that Ballard stole Yagi’s wallet and backpack before suffocating her at a hotel in Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture, according to Kyodo News agency. Ballard has denied the allegations.
Yagi’s body was discovered after she failed to check out of the hotel by the designated time, authorities said.
A hotel employee became concerned, unlocked the room and found Yagi unconscious inside. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The alleged killing has sparked alarm among Okinawan residents and politicians, prompting Japan to lodge a formal protest with the United States.
A formal protest is a forceful diplomatic statement used to express serious opposition to a policy, action or alleged breach of international law.
Surveillance video reportedly showed a man believed to be Ballard entering the hotel alongside Yagi and later leaving by himself.
Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, allegedly robbed and killed Anna Yagi, a 39-year-old Okinawa resident, police said. Ballard is stationed at Futenma Air Station, pictured.
Police said Ballard allegedly took Yagi’s wallet and backpack before suffocating her at a hotel in Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture, according to a local report.
Investigators said hotel security footage showed the suspect leaving through the entrance while carrying belongings that belonged to Yagi.
The man had a shaved head and was dressed in a black tank top, three-quarter-length trousers and white sneakers. Police later recovered the woman’s belongings near the hotel.
Ballard was arrested after an officer reportedly spotted him walking alone late Saturday in Naha’s entertainment district.
Authorities said the service member is stationed at Futenma Air Station on Okinawa.
Japanese officials responded swiftly to what they described as a “brutal and heinous” killing.
“The case deals a major shock and adds fear to the Okinawans who have already been forced to live next to U.S. bases,” newly elected Okinawa Governor Genta Koja told reporters.
“It is absolutely unforgivable and we are outraged.
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“I must say, discipline and troop education are not working at all,” she added, criticizing measures introduced by the United States after previous criminal cases in Japan.
Security footage reportedly showed a man believed to be Ballard entering the hotel with Yagi before later walking out alone.
Around 500,000 US troops are deployed in Japan, and half of them are stationed in Okinawa. Their deployment is part of a mutual security alliance that is key to the Japan-US alliance amid growing tensions with China.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi also spoke out after the woman was found dead.
‘The occurrence of the heinous crime is extremely regrettable,’ she posted on X.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi also summoned George Glass, the US Ambassador to Japan, to his office amid the ‘outrage.’
Glass took to X, sharing condolences with the victim’s family. He said the US is cooperating with the Japanese nation and local governments in the case.
Ballard is assigned to the III Marine Expeditionary Force on the island and said that the agency is also cooperating with the investigation.
‘The Marine Corps takes these allegations very seriously and expects every Marine to adhere to the highest standards of behavior,’ the Marines said, according to the Associated Press.
Marcus Dion Gill, 22, Rodrico Harp, 21, and Kendrick Ledet, 20, rented a van and kidnapped the girl, taped her eyes and mouth shut, bound her feet, and then raped her on an isolated beach in 1995 , a court heard
This is not the first time that US troops have caused a stir on Okinawa, as a 12-year-old girl was raped by three American service members in 1995.
The servicemen: Marcus Dion Gill, 22, Rodrico Harp, 21, and Kendrick Ledet, 20, rented a van and kidnapped the girl, taped her eyes and mouth shut, bound her feet, and then raped her on an isolated beach, a court heard.
Gill, a Navy Seaman, pleaded guilty to rape, but Harp and Ledet said they only helped with the plan and did not rape the child. Harp also confessed to hitting the girl.
Gill and Harp were both convicted of rape and sentenced to seven years in a Japanese prison.
Ledet was convicted of abduction and violence, but acquitted of the rape charge. He was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.