NAGOYA -- A 19-year-old youth was in police custody March 9 on suspicion of murdering a 15-year-old junior high school girl, who was found dead at his home March 8, police said.
Police said they plan to conduct an autopsy on the girl, Eri Katsuragawa, a third-year student at Nisshin West Junior High School in Nisshin, Aichi Prefecture.
According to an investigation, the youth, who was described as unemployed and not identified because he is a minor, is thought to have strangled the girl with a pillow cover while she was sleeping in his room March 6.
Police quoted the suspect as saying the girl had been wanting to end their relationship since early this month and he strangled her because he didn't want to break up with her.
The teenager, who lives with his self-employed father, began to associate with Katsuragawa six months ago.
The suspect was arrested after he turned himself in at a police station in the morning March 8 following his father's discovery of the girl's body in the garage at around midnight March 7.
The girl was wearing a school uniform, and blood had trickled from her nose and mouth.
The father reportedly told police he left his house in the morning on March 7 and returned home late in the evening.