Parris Island drill instructor found not guilty of Marine’s death during Crucible
The Parris Island drill instructor has been cleared of the most serious charges.
BY JEFF SCHOGOL | PUBLISHED JUL 28, 2023 6:14 PM EDT
Adrill instructor has been found not guilty of negligent homicide and most other charges for the June 4, 2021 death of Pfc. Dalton Beals at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, according to his attorney Colby Vokey.
Staff Sgt. Steven T. Smiley was found guilty on one specification of violation of the recruit training order for using nicknames to refer to recruits, such as “war pigs,” Vokey told Task & Purpose on Friday.
“To charge Staff Sgt. Smiley with the death of recruit Beals was ridiculous and overreaching at the greatest level, and the [jury] members saw through that and they came to the just decision on that issue,” Vokey said.
Smiley was Beals’ senior drill instructor when the 19-year-old Marine from Pennsville, New Jersey, died of overheating during the Crucible event of recruit training. Smiley was later charged with negligent homicide and other offenses in connection with Beals’ death.
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/parris-island-drill-instructor-found-not-guilty-of-marines-death-during-crucible/
