In the brutal murder of a 13-year-old boy on the banks of the Tama River in Kawasaki, the victim, Ryoto Uemura, joined the three teenage suspects on the night of the slaying without knowing the group included the 18-year-old boy he was afraid of and who allegedly played the leading role in the killing, investigative sources said Tuesday.
According to the sources, one of the two 17-year-old boys among the three, all under arrest and whose names have been withheld because they are minors, said he didn't tell Uemura that the oldest boy was present when Uemura contacted him shortly before they met via the Line online smartphone service.
Uemura, who had been severely assaulted by the 18-year-old in mid-January and was afraid of him, might not have joined the group and probably would have avoided being killed had he known the suspect was present, the sources said.