TOKYO—Japan lodged a formal protest with the U.S. after police arrested a 20-year-old Marine on suspicion of robbery and murder following the death of a woman in Okinawa.
Yagi was found dead Saturday at a hotel in the Okinawan capital of Naha. Ballard couldn’t be reached for comment, and it wasn’t clear whether he had legal representation. Okinawan police said Devin Jacob Ballard is accused of killing Anna Yagi, 39, and stealing her wallet and backpack.
Ballard is a lance-corporal with the Third Marine Expeditionary Force stationed on the island, according to a U.S. official. The police said Ballard denies the allegations. “The occurrence of such an extremely brutal and heinous incident is a matter of profound regret,” Takaichi said. “Although the prefecture has repeatedly called upon the U.S. military to prevent recurrences whenever incidents have occurred in the past, the fact that such an incident has happened again compels me to say that the U.S. military’s efforts to enforce discipline and train its personnel are failing completely,” Koja said Sunday following news of the arrest.
On Sunday, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in a message on her official account on X that officials have lodged a strong protest with the U.S. and demanded maximum cooperation with the investigation.
U.S.
Ambassador George Glass said he has discussed the matter with Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Okinawa’s governor, Genta Koja. “We confirmed our policy of providing full cooperation with the investigation,” Glass said on X.
