A 20-year-old service member is in Japanese custody after a 39-year-old woman was killed at a hotel in Naha.
Japanese police took a 20-year-old US Marine into custody after a 39-year-old woman was killed at a hotel in Naha on Saturday, a crime that sparked local protests and a formal complaint from Tokyo.
Police identified the suspect as Devin Jacob Ballard and the victim as Anna Yagi. Public broadcaster NHK reported that security camera footage showed a foreign man entering a hotel room with a woman and later walking out alone with her belongings. Police located Ballard, who matched the description, and accused him of killing Yagi and stealing her wallet. Ballard has reportedly denied the allegations.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the incident a “heinous crime” and described it on Monday as “exceptionally brutal and vicious.” Takaichi said Japan lodged a strong protest with Washington, asking US authorities to provide maximum cooperation with the investigation and enforce stricter discipline among personnel. Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said incidents involving American troops cause great anxiety among residents and must not happen.
Outrage and military presence
About 100 people rallied in Naha on Sunday as news of the killing spread. Okinawa hosts about 70 percent of US military facilities in Japan, where around 54,000 American military personnel are stationed under a bilateral security treaty and Status of Forces Agreement. Under that pact, Japan has the primary right to exercise jurisdiction over off-duty crimes committed off base.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, about 6,000 US military personnel have been arrested since the US returned control of Okinawa to Japan in 1972. Arrests reached 80 in 2024, the highest count in 20 years.
The Marine Corps said Ballard is assigned to the III Marine Expeditionary Force at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. In a statement, the branch said it takes the allegations seriously and confirmed Ballard was in Japanese custody. US Ambassador George Glass posted on social media that he spoke with Okinawa’s governor and Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, offering condolences and pledging full cooperation as the investigation continues.
