Drill instructor acquitted of homicide in 2021 death of Marine recruit
A senior drill instructor was found not guilty Friday of negligent homicide and most other charges in connection with the 2021 death of a Marine recruit during the grueling final stage of boot camp.
Staff Sgt. Steven T. Smiley, 35, was in charge of the Pfc. Dalton Beals’ platoon at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, when Beals died at age 19 during Crucible, the culminating event of Marine recruit training, in June 2021.
Boot camp tragedy: A recruit died. His drill instructor faces the blame
In November 2022, Smiley was charged with negligent homicide; obstruction of justice; cruelty, oppression or maltreatment of subordinates; and failure to obey orders, a charge with four specifications, or descriptions of the alleged offense, according to his charge sheets.
A jury at the South Carolina boot camp found Smiley not guilty of most charges but convicted him of one specification of violation of the recruit training order for using nicknames like “war pigs” to refer to his recruits, Task & Purpose first reported. In the report summarizing an investigation conducted by the command, several recruits in the platoon said they found the nickname motivating.
At trial at the depot, prosecutor Lt. Col. Ian Germain contended that Smiley had set out to “break recruits” rather than “make Marines,” and had failed to heed signs of heat exhaustion in Beals or listen to recruits’ concerns about their peer’s health, The Beaufort Gazette reported.
Smiley’s lawyer, Colby Vokey, a Marine veteran, countered that Smiley was no criminal but rather a drill instructor doing his job, the Gazette reported.
The prosecution and the defense have clashed over the cause of Beals’ death.
An initial autopsy determined Beals had died from overheating, but the medical examiner who conducted a second autopsy found Beals, who played football and wrestled in high school, had died from an unpreventable heart issue.
Dr. Gerald Feigin, that second medical examiner, said in an email to the defense in March, “I find it reprehensible that anyone is charged with a crime in this case,” Marine Corps Times first reported.
Marine Corps Times requested comment from the families of Beals and Smiley, Smiley’s command and Smiley’s lawyer on Friday evening but did not receive any responses immediately.
This article will be updated as more information becomes available.