Japanese prosecutors charge US marine suspected of robbing and killing woman
Summary
Japanese prosecutors charged U.S. Marine Devin Jacob Ballard with murdering and robbing Anna Yagi in Okinawa. Ballard reportedly denies the charges; her death has prompted protests and new restrictions on U.S. military personnel stationed on the island.Key Facts
- Ballard, 20, is assigned to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa.
- Prosecutors charged him with fatally strangling Yagi, 39, at a hotel and stealing a backpack containing a wallet.
- Yagi was found dead in Naha, Okinawa’s capital, and Ballard was arrested on October 4.
- Japanese media reported that surveillance footage showed a man entering a room with a woman and later leaving with her belongings.
- Yagi’s killing prompted protests in Okinawa and Tokyo, as well as a curfew and alcohol ban for U.S. military members in Okinawa.
- Most of the 54,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan are based in Okinawa.
- The Yomiuri Shimbun reported about 6,000 arrests of U.S. military personnel in Okinawa since 1972, including 80 in 2024.
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