Killing of Yoshihiro Hattori

Yoshihiro Hattori (服部 剛丈, Hattori Yoshihiro; November 22, 1975 – October 17, 1992, often referred to as Yoshi Hattori) was a Japanese student on an exchange program to the United States who was shot to death in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The shooting happened when Hattori, on his way to a Halloween party, went to the wrong house by mistake. Property owner Rodney Peairs () fatally shot Hattori, erroneously thinking that he was trespassing with criminal intent. The killing and Peairs's trials received worldwide attention, initiating discussion about race relations and attitudes toward Asians in the United States.

Peairs was acquitted of manslaughter at a criminal trial, but at a civil trial he was found liable for Hattori's death. The court awarded Hattori's parents US$650,000 ($1.41 million today) against Peairs in damages.

Hattori's early life

Yoshihiro Hattori was born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, the second of the three children of Masaichi Hattori, an engineer, and his wife Mieko Hattori. He was 16 years old when he went to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, in August 1992 as part of the American Field Service (AFS) student exchange program; he had also received a scholarship from the Morita Foundation for his trip. Hattori was hosted as a homestay student in Baton Rouge by Richard and Holley Haymaker (a college professor and a physician, respectively) and their teenage son, Webb.

Killing

Two months into his stay in the U.S., Hattori and his homestay brother Webb Haymaker received an invitation to a Halloween party on October 17, 1992, organized for Japanese exchange students.