A 20-year-old U.S. Marine stationed in Okinawa has been arrested by Japanese authorities on suspicion of robbing and murdering a 39-year-old woman inside a hotel in Naha, triggering a formal protest from the Japanese government.
Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, assigned to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, was taken into custody early Sunday in connection with the death of Anna Yagi, 39, a resident of Naha.
According to Stars and Stripes, Okinawa Prefectural Police allege that Ballard killed Yagi at the Naminoue Crystal Hotel in Naha’s Wakasa district sometime between approximately 2:10 a.m. and 4:17 a.m. Saturday. Police also accuse him of stealing her wallet and another personal item.
Police say surveillance footage showed Yagi entering the hotel with a man before the man later left alone carrying her belongings.
When Yagi failed to leave by checkout time, a hotel employee entered the room and discovered her unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities later located Ballard walking alone in an entertainment district and detained him before formally arresting him on suspicion of robbery and murder. Ballard has denied the allegations.
The precise cause and circumstances of Yagi’s death have not yet been publicly disclosed, and investigators are still working to determine the relationship, if any, between Yagi and Ballard.
