Suspect Denies Hokkaido Girl Murder Charge in First Trial

Asahikawa, Hokkaido, May 25 (Jiji Press)--A woman suspected of killing a then 17-year-old high school girl, who died in 2024 after falling from a suspension bridge in the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido, pleaded not guilty to murder in the first hearing of her lay judge trial at Asahikawa District Court on Monday.

The 23-year-old defendant, Riko Uchida, denied having any intent to kill, saying that she did not push the girl off the bridge.

The judgment will be handed down on June 22, after eight hearings.

In its opening statement, the prosecution said the defendant picked a quarrel with the high school girl after she posted an image of the defendant on social media without permission, triggering the incident.

Prosecutors further alleged that the defendant, together with a 21-year-old female acquaintance, who has been convicted of conspiring with Uchida to commit the crime, used some form of physical force to cause the victim to fall from the bridge. The acquaintance was classified as a specified juvenile under the revised juvenile law, or an 18- or 19-year-old suspect whose real name can be publicized in some cases.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]