CHIBA (TR) – Chiba Prefectural Police plan to arrest a 23-year-old man over the alleged murder of a girl in Sodegaura City earlier this year, reports the Asahi Shimbun (June 21).
According to police, Shota Natsumi is already in custody over the alleged sexual assault of another girl in Kanagawa Prefecture.
On May 7, Natsumi allegedly used a knife-like object to stab Ami Nakagomi, 19, in a bamboo thicket.
Natsumi, who lives in Yokohama City’s Midori Ward, works part-time at a karaoke parlor.
A knife soaked in what appeared to be blood was found inside his residence, police said.
Natsumi became acquainted with Nakagomi on social media. They met for the first time on May 7.
Wallet and her bag
On the night of May 12, a search team that included members of Nakagomi’s family found her bleeding body in the bamboo thicket.
Nakagomi’s body had at least one stab wound and a gash. Her mobile telephone, cash in her wallet and her bag were found near her body.
Police later revealed that the cause of death was possibly shock due to loss of blood.
Police first arrested Natsumi earlier this month for violating an ordinance for Kanagawa Prefecture regarding the healthy upbringing of youths.
In that case, police allege that he knew another girl in her late teens was a minor when he engaged in sex with her inside a toilet in a park in Yokohama on the night of May 8, the day after he is alleged to have killed Nakagomi.
