Japanese police are expected to soon arrest a 15-year-old boy in connection with the stabbing death of an elderly woman on a street near Tokyo.
Sources say police have been questioning the teenager on a voluntary basis, and asked a court for an arrest warrant for the boy on suspicion of killing the woman.
The 84-year-old woman was found bleeding on a street in the Wakamatsucho district of Chiba City on Sunday evening.
A passerby alerted police around 5 p.m., and the woman was rushed to hospital. She had been reportedly stabbed in the back and was confirmed dead about one and a half hours later.
Police identified the woman as Takahashi Yayoi, a neighborhood resident.
They are investigating her death as a murder case. They say she was likely assaulted near the site.
Investigative sources say police have been questioning the boy, who lives nearby, on a suspicion that he was involved in the case.
The street is in a residential area about 1 kilometer from Tsuga Station on the JR Sobu Line.
AloJapan.com