KANAGAWA (TR) – Prosecutors have announced the non-prosecution of four men, including an organized crime member, over the drowning of an 18-year-old boy in a river in Kawasaki City last year, reports TV Asahi (Dec. 19).
Between September and November, Kanagawa Prefectural Police arrested Takuma Tsumagari (22), Ryunosuke Kojitani, a 21-year-old member of the Sumiyoshi-kai, Hiroki Iwase (21) and Keisuke Yahata (22) over the killing of Mizuki Takahashi, whose corpse was found floating off the shore of the Tama River in Tama Ward on December 2, 2016.
On Tuesday, prosecutors at the Yokohama District Court dropped the case against the defendants, who had been accused of murder. The reason for the non-prosecution was not given.
According to police, the boy was killed on November 23, 2016. When his body was found it was fully nude and floating face-up. The results of an autopsy revealed that Takahashi, who is from Yokohama, died due to drowning.
In September, police arrested Tsumagari, Kojitani and Iwase. However, they were later released. Yahata had been placed on a wanted list. In November, he turned himself over police. During questioning, he denied the charges.
Takahashi had gone missing in November. On the same day that his body was discovered, his mother reported to the Seya Police Station in Yokohama that his whereabouts were unknown.
