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Japanese prosecutors have indicted a US Marine on suspicion of murdering and robbing a woman in Okinawa earlier this month, according to Japanese media reports cited by CNN. The case has prompted renewed anger over the conduct of US troops in Japan.
Lance Corporal Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, who is assigned to the III Marine Expeditionary Force at Futenma Air Station, is accused of strangling a woman with a phone cord at a hotel in Naha, Okinawa’s capital, and stealing her backpack, which contained a wallet. Public broadcaster NHK and other Japanese media reported the indictment on Sunday.
CNN said it had contacted the US Marine Corps and the III Marine Expeditionary Force for comment.
Anna Yagi, 39, was found unresponsive in her hotel room on the morning of October 3 and was pronounced dead at the scene. Okinawa police previously told CNN that the cause of death was suffocation. Police said Ballard was arrested less than 24 hours later while walking around the city.
CNN said it was seeking to determine who represents Ballard legally. Prosecutors have not disclosed whether he has admitted or denied the charges, NHK reported. Okinawa police previously told CNN that Ballard denied them.
The Naha District Public Prosecutors Office declined to comment to CNN on Monday.
The case is the latest in a series of allegations involving US personnel in Okinawa, where the American military presence has long been a source of anger and protests. The island hosts several US military facilities and is home to about 30,000 US troops and their families.
Ballard’s arrest sparked local protests and condemnation from Japanese politicians and leaders, including Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. She said her government had “strongly protested” to the US and called for “thorough discipline among US military personnel, and comprehensive measures to prevent the recurrence of crimes and accidents.”
Okinawa Governor Genta Koja said the alleged murder “leaves us no choice but to conclude that the US military’s efforts in maintaining discipline, educating personnel, and other such measures are completely ineffective.”
After Ballard’s arrest, US troops on the island were placed under a monthlong curfew and required to undertake training on “standards, discipline, and our responsibilities as members of the Okinawan community.”
Last year, US Marine Lance Corporal Jamel Clayton, 22, was sentenced to seven years in prison after being convicted of strangling and sexually assaulting a woman in Okinawa. In 2024, US Air Force member Brennon R. E. Washington, 25, was sentenced to five years for kidnapping and raping an underage girl.
In 2016, tens of thousands of people demonstrated for an end to the US military presence on Okinawa following the killing of a local woman by a civilian worker stationed at the US Kadena Air Base.
CNN’s Junko Ogura and Laura Sharman contributed reporting.
