Father seeks murder charge after Nagoya woman is killed by jumper
A man jumped from an 11th-floor apartment in Nagoya, Japan, killing a woman walking below him. Though the jumper survived, the victim's father is now fighting for murder charges rather than the current gross negligence charge, arguing the man knew his actions could kill someone innocent.
Shinsei Taguchi, 29, jumped from the building on 19 July, crushing Tomoki Inaba, 23, who died from hemorrhagic shock despite medical treatment. He was discharged from hospital in August, arrested on suspicion of gross negligence resulting in death, and is undergoing psychiatric assessment. The victim's father, Kenji Inaba, claims Taguchi admitted that he jumped without caring whether people below lived or died. A petition demanding murder charges has gathered over 45,000 signatures.
- Woman killed when man jumped from 11th floor in Japan
- Her father demands murder charge instead of gross negligence
- Petition for harsher charge has over 45,000 signatures
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A man jumped from the 11th floor of an apartment building in Nagoya, Japan, on 19 July, falling on a woman walking below and killing her. Shinsei Taguchi, 29, survived the jump with injuries, whilst Tomoki Inaba, 23, died from her injuries despite receiving medical treatment.
Taguchi was arrested on suspicion of gross negligence resulting in death and is undergoing psychiatric assessment. The victim's father, Kenji Inaba, has launched a campaign arguing the charge should be murder instead, claiming Taguchi admitted he jumped without caring whether people below would live or die. A petition supporting murder charges has gathered over 45,000 signatures.
The case raises a question central to law and justice about accountability when someone's actions cause death. The dispute between charges—murder versus negligence—turns on whether Taguchi should face legal responsibility as if he intended the death, given his knowledge that people below could be harmed.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The perpetrator admitted jumping without caring whether people below lived or died. Jumping from an 11th floor is an act whose lethal consequences any reasonable person would foresee. When someone deliberately engages in conduct so obviously dangerous with conscious indifference to human life, they bear criminal responsibility for resulting deaths. The victim's death was not an unforeseen accident but the direct, foreseeable consequence of the defendant's reckless choice to act.
The case against
Murder requires intent to kill or knowledge that death is substantially certain—neither applicable here. The defendant jumped during what appears to be a mental health crisis, not to target the victim specifically. Gross negligence appropriately reflects the seriousness of reckless, dangerous conduct whilst acknowledging this was not a deliberate killing. Expanding murder charges to cover all foreseeable deaths from reckless acts, without intent, risks conflating tragic accidents with intentional violence and setting a problematic legal precedent.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Woman crushed to death by suicidal jumper from 11th floor in Japan – but he survives: Father demands murder charge”.