A Fort Lewis soldier has been charged with murder in the September shooting death of his platoon sergeant in Iraq, officials said today.
Cpl. Timothy Ayers, 21, is accused with killing Sgt. 1st Class David A. Cooper, Jr., a 36-year-old tanker and longtime Fort Lewis soldier who died Sept. 5 in Baghdad.
A Fort Lewis spokesman said Cooper’s death was the result of “a suspected negligent discharge.” At the time it was announced, the Department of Defense said Cooper died of a non-combat injury that was under investigation.
Post spokesman Joseph Piek said Ayers is charged under Article 118, subsection 3 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which defines a killing as murder when an accused person “is engaged in an act that is inherently dangerous to another and evinces a wanton disregard for human life.”
Piek said Army prosecutors do not believe the killing was premeditated or that Ayers intended to kill Cooper.
The charge says Ayers shot the platoon sergeant with a pistol at Forward Operating Base Falcon in Baghdad.
Army authorities released no other information about the circumstances of the shooting.
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Stryker soldier faces murder charge in shooting of leader
MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune
A Fort Lewis soldier has been charged with murder in the September shooting death of his platoon sergeant in Iraq, officials said today.
Cpl. Timothy Ayers, 21, is accused with killing Sgt. 1st Class David A. Cooper, Jr., a 36-year-old tanker and longtime Fort Lewis soldier who died Sept. 5 in Baghdad.
A Fort Lewis spokesman said Cooper’s death was the result of “a suspected negligent discharge.” At the time it was announced, the Department of Defense said Cooper died of a non-combat injury that was under investigation.
