Father of Woman Killed by Building Jumper Seeks Murder Charge

Watarai, Mie Pref., Oct. 26 (Jiji Press)--A father of a woman who was killed after being struck by a man who jumped from an apartment building in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, is gathering signatures calling for the man to be charged with murder on the grounds that he acted with conditional intent.

Kenji Inaba's daughter, Houra, then 23, was walking with a friend on a street in Nagoya's Naka Ward around 1 a.m. on July 19 when she was struck by the man, who had jumped from the 11th floor of an apartment building. She died of hemorrhagic shock as a result of the collision.

The 29-year-old man survived the fall and was arrested by Aichi prefectural police in late August on suspicion of causing death through gross negligence. He was subsequently referred to prosecutors and is currently undergoing psychiatric evaluation while in detention.

The 50-year-old father from the town of Watarai in neighboring Mie Prefecture argued that the man must have been aware that jumping from the building could endanger others. "I will not let my daughter's death be dismissed as an unfortunate accident," he said.

The father was contacted about an hour and a half after the incident and rushed by car to the hospital where he found his daughter in the operating room. "It honestly didn't make any sense," he said, recalling the day.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]