US Marine Charged with Robbery and Murder in Japan

Okinawa (ANTARA) — US Marine Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, who is stationed at Futenma Air Station, has been formally charged with robbing and murdering 39-year-old local woman Anna Yagi in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.

According to the indictment, Ballard strangled the woman with a telephone cable at a hotel in Naha on 3 October and stole her backpack. Okinawa Prefectural Police arrested him on 4 October.

The case has sparked public anger in Okinawa, where crimes involving US military personnel stationed in Japan have long been a source of concern. Such crimes include rape, murder and robbery.

According to an earlier report by Japanese newspaper Shimbun Akahata, citing data from Japan’s National Police Agency, Japanese police handled 4,998 criminal cases involving US military personnel and their family members between 1989 and May 2026. Of those, 2,447 cases occurred in Okinawa Prefecture, accounting for nearly half of the total.