Overview
- Prosecutors will not pursue a negligent injury count over the baby’s disabilities, keeping the case focused on the negligent driving causing the mother’s death.
- They plan to ask the court to amend the indictment so it explicitly describes the baby’s injuries and the crash’s impact on her.
- The crash occurred on May 21 in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, when a car struck 31-year-old Sayaka Togitani, who died two days later of a subdural hematoma.
- The baby, Hinami, was delivered by emergency cesarean section after the crash and now has severe brain damage and requires mechanical ventilation.
- The move comes after family petitions with more than 110,000 signatures and supplementary inquiries into medical causation by the Nagoya District Public Prosecutors Office.