The Tokyo Family Court decided Wednesday to conduct a psychiatric examination of a 13-year-old girl who pushed a 5-year-old boy off the fourth floor of an apartment building in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward.
The decision was made in the first session of a closed-door juvenile trial held to determine possible measures, including institutionalization or probation of the girl.
The girl's lawyer, who had asked for the test to be conducted, said the teen told the hearing that she did not intend to kill the boy, and that he had filed an opinion that she had no such intent.
The girl is in the custody of the Tokyo juvenile detention center.
The court decided to hold a second hearing to gather information that will serve as the basis for a psychiatric examination, and to proceed with the trial carefully.
Hearings will be temporarily halted pending the outcome of the tests, which will be conducted at a medical institution and are expected to take several months.
Juvenile criminals under 14 cannot be punished under the Penal Code. The media are banned under the Juvenile Law from disclosing information that could identify juvenile suspects.
Police treated the incident as attempted murder. The girl told police she pushed the Chinese boy, Sun Jizu, off the fourth floor of the building on June 22 out of fear that he would tell her mother she had gone to a game arcade. The boy fell into bushes and survived, suffering only minor injuries.