Kanagawa Prefectural Police headquarters (Mainichi/Akihiko Yamamoto)

       YOKOHAMA -- A former day care teacher at a private authorized facility in the east Japan city of Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, was arrested on Nov. 1 on suspicion of inflicting injuries on a 1-year-old girl's head resulting in death in 2017, police said.

       The suspect, Ayako Kaetsu, 45, a resident of the prefectural city of Isehara, has reportedly denied the allegations, telling the Kanagawa Prefectural Police, "I didn't do it."

       Kaetsu was arrested for allegedly assaulting then 1-year-old Ayaka Yanagita in a room used for naps on the first floor of the day care center between around 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. on April 27, 2017, causing her to die of a traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage.

       According to the prefectural police, Kaetsu was in charge of caring for Ayaka at the time, and got her to sleep just before the incident. She reported to the director of the center that Ayaka's condition had deteriorated, and the director called the 119 emergency number. The girl was confirmed dead at around 3 p.m. on that day at the hospital where she was transported to.

       The suspect had been working at the day care since 2010. She is now reportedly employed at a different nursery school.

       Initially, the prefectural police assumed it could be either intentional or an accident, but multiple doctors submitted their views that the girl's wound was unnatural. Based on the footage from the facility's security cameras and eyewitness reports, Kaetsu's involvement in the case emerged.

       (Japanese original by Minhyang Hong, Yokohama Bureau)

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