{"id":42989,"date":"2026-10-04T23:23:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T23:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/42989\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T23:23:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T23:23:09","slug":"us-marine-jacob-ballad-arrested-in-japan-on-suspicion-of-killing-local-woman-at-hotel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/42989\/","title":{"rendered":"US Marine Jacob Ballad arrested in Japan on suspicion of killing local woman at hotel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A US Marine was arrested in Japan on suspicion killing a woman and stealing her belongings, according to reports.<\/p>\n<p>Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballad, 20, is suspected of killing Anna Yagi, 39, early Saturday at the Naminoue Crystal Hotel in Okinawa, a local police spokesperson told Stars and Stripes.<\/p>\n<p>Ballad, who is assigned to the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, was allegedly seen on security footage entering the hotel with the woman, but leaving alone sometime later, the military newspaper reported.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.50146628;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"   data-modal-image=\"41128958\" width=\"886\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/20-year-old-u-s-143684522.jpg\" alt=\"Exterior view of the hotel in Naha, Okinawa prefecture.\" class=\"wp-image-41128958\"\/>The Naminoue Crystal Hotel in Okinawa, Japan, where US Marine Devin Jacob Ballad, 20, allegedly killed a woman. Bookings.com<\/p>\n<p>A hotel employee entered the room after the pair failed to check out on time and found the victim unconscious, the report said.<\/p>\n<p>Police allege that Ballad stole Yagi\u2019s wallet and backpack and killed her sometime between 2:10 a.m. and 4:17 a.m. Saturday, according to the outlet.<\/p>\n<p>Ballad was detained and questioned by police after he was spotted walking in an Okinawa city nightlife district and arrested on Sunday, according to Japanese newspaper Nikkei Asia.<\/p>\n<p>Police expect to refer the case to the Naha Public Prosecutors Office within 48 hours of his arrest, the Okinawa Prefectural Police spokesperson told Stars and Stripes later Sunday, as Ballad remained in custody.<\/p>\n<p>He denies the allegations, police said.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.50146628;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"   data-modal-image=\"41128963\" width=\"886\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/20-year-old-u-s-143684520.jpg\" alt=\"Entrance of the hotel in Naha where the incident took place.\" class=\"wp-image-41128963\"\/>Police allege that Ballad stole Yagi\u2019s wallet and backpack and killed her in the early hours of Saturday. Expedia.com<\/p>\n<p>The US Marine Corps is \u201cactively cooperating with Japanese authorities in response to allegations of serious criminal actions by a Marine assigned to the III Marine Expeditionary Force,\u201d spokesman 1st Lt. Tyler Thomas said in an email to Stars and Stripes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>US Ambassador George Glass said on X that he had spoken with Japan\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and pledged \u201cfull cooperation as the investigation continues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The US Embassy in Tokyo said it was \u201caware that a US service member is in custody following the death of a Japanese national in Okinawa,\u201d in a X post.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs an investigation is underway to determine the facts of the case, the United States is communicating and cooperating with the Government of Japan and local authorities,\u201d the embassy wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe extend our sincere condolences to the victim\u2019s family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Post reached out to the US Marine Corps for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A US Marine was arrested in Japan on suspicion killing a woman and stealing her belongings, according to reports. Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballad, 20, is suspected of killing Anna Yagi, 39, early Saturday at the Naminoue Crystal Hotel in Okinawa, a local police spokesperson told Stars and Stripes. Ballad, who is assigned to the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42990,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[24551,1899,1902,34497,31255,332,389,2617,34498,11204],"class_list":["post-42989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-arrests","tag-hotels","tag-japan","tag-marines","tag-murders","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-hotels","tag-robberies","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dc\/117385219519299627","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}