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Marine gets 8 months for accidental shooting



By Trista Talton - Posted : July 07, 2008

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — Lance Cpl. Charles Snowdon doesn’t need the helmet, boots and rifle — a tribute tattoo, inked on his left forearm — to remind him of his friend.
Snowdon told a military judge he’s thought about Lance Cpl. Luciano Reyes, 20, every day since he shot and killed Reyes during a training exercise at Twentynine Palms, Calif., on Jan. 17, 2007.
Facing charges of manslaughter and negligent discharge, Snowdon pleaded guilty in a pretrial agreement to negligent homicide in a small courtroom here June 23. The judge sentenced him to eight months in the brig and reduction to private, but did not discharge him from the Corps.
“This case is more than about Lance Corporal Snowdon,” Lt. Col. Paul McConnell, the military judge, said after handing down his sentence.
The case, he said, is about two friends, two Marines, two sons and a tragic lesson about the importance of following the four weapon safety rules every Marine learns:
• Treat every weapon as if it were loaded.
• Never point your weapon at anything you do not intend to shoot.
• Keep your finger straight and off the trigger until you are ready to fire.
• Keep your weapon on safe until you intend to fire.
“That’s what this case boils down to,” said prosecutor Capt. Micah Miller. “A Marine who killed another Marine because he failed to follow the rules. There’s no such thing as an accidental discharge when it comes to weapons.
“[Snowdon] was sloppy and lazy. That cannot be tolerated in the Marine Corps.”
Assigned to 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines at the time, Snowdon admitted he did not follow those rules when he popped off a training round from an MK19 40mm grenade launcher, hitting Reyes in the back of the head. Snowdon said he was “complacent,” did not do the proper pre-contact checks and failed to realize the weapon in his vehicle — the second in a convoy preparing for a training run at Mojave Viper — was pointing straight at Reyes.
Snowdon’s vehicle was originally running lead in the first training convoy to go out that day. His unit, Charlie Company, was running behind schedule, according to his attorney, Capt. John Diefenbach.
The MK19 Snowdon was to man began to malfunction during the first training run. The position safety officer in that convoy ordered the weapon be cleared and shut down, Diefenbach said.
The gunner did not follow those orders, he said, and the safety officer failed to check behind the gunner. The range officer in charge cleared the range, he said.
“As a result, it was reported that all weapons were clear,” Diefenbach said.
Two officers and two noncommissioned officers — 1st Lt. William Strom, 1st Lt. Braxton Mashburn, Sgt. Doug Hayden and Cpl. Jason Fisher — also face court-martial proceedings in connection with the shooting. The men face charges of failure to obey an order or regulation.
Reyes’ mother, Lillian Reyes, testified she did not blame Snowdon for her son’s death. She keeps a picture of her son and a picture of Snowdon, the two friends, side by side on her cellular phone.
“I think he has suffered enough,” she said. “My son was killed by the Marine Corps and I don’t think it’s fair to kill another one. They were friends. It was an accident. I don’t want him punished. It wasn’t his fault. It could have happened to my son, too.”
Luciano Reyes, called “Junior” by his family, has an identical twin, born one minute later. The brother has refused to talk about Reyes’ death or visit his bedroom in the North Babylon, N.Y., home they shared growing up, according to his mother.
After high school, Luciano Reyes attended college to pursue a career in criminal justice. He eventually changed his mind, his mother said, deciding to join the Corps with several friends who were enlisting.
“He wanted to go fight,” his mother said. Reyes’ battalion was preparing to deploy when he was killed.
When 1/2 deployed last year, Snowdon remained at Camp Lejeune, where he was transferred to the 8th Marine Regiment. The Marine wanted to deploy to Iraq with the regiment early next year, and Snowdon’s attorney asked the judge to sentence him to no more than 60 days in the brig, so he could participate in the regiment’s pre-deployment training and go to Iraq.
First Lt. Michael Ankrum, commander of Headquarters Company, 8th Marine Regiment, was a platoon commander with 1/2 at the time of the shooting. He said Snowdon was a good Marine, one he could count on to get the job done.
“[The shooting] didn’t stop him from being a Marine,” Ankrum said, adding that Snowdon was a private first class when the shooting occurred. “I think he tries to punish himself at times.”
Snowdon waived his right to an Article 32 hearing. In a written statement he read in the courtroom, Snowdon said he had always wanted to part of the “Few and the Proud,” but knew he had let the Corps down.
“It’s my fault that Reyes is no longer here with us,” he said. If he had not failed to check the weapon, “I wouldn’t have to deal with the guilt of taking a great man from his family.”

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...And shephards we shall be. For thee my lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from thy hand. That our feet may swiftly carry out thy command. So we shall flow a river forth to thee. And teeming with souls shall it ever be. E Nomini Patri, E Fili, E Spiritu Sancti.

Ndnsoldierboy

Oh man, thats really sucks. Since my time in, we haven't had any incidents like this. Thank God. As NCO's, we always be checking weapons. Team Leaders, Squad Leaders, Platoon SGT spot checking.


We got relieved in Afghanistan by the 25th Infantry Division from Hawaii and some soldier got hit in the chest with a burst from M249, he didn't make it. And the incident happened on the base. Not outside the wire. It was sad. We left the base a couple days later back to, "The World."

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