Fort Lewis soldier to face court-martial in girl’s drug death
Army Pvt. Timothy Bennitt will face a court-martial on charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of Leah King, a 16-year-old girl who died Feb. 16 from a lethal mix of drugs at Fort Lewis.
By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter
Army Pvt. Timothy Bennitt will face a court-martial on charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of Leah King, a 16-year-old girl who died Feb. 16 from a lethal mix of drugs at Fort Lewis.
The decision to move ahead with a court-martial was announced today. Conviction on all counts could result in up to 82 years in prison.
Earlier this year, the Army held evidentiary hearings at which Army prosecutors alleged that Bennitt provided drugs to King when she spent a night at the barracks.
During one of those hearings, Trashauna Yoacham, who accompanied King onto the post that night, offered a sharply different version of the February events. She claimed that Bennitt had no involvement in providing the prescription drugs that killed King and sent Yoacham to the hospital.
But an Army investigating officer found “reasonable grounds” to conclude that Bennitt did provide the drugs, and Fort Lewis commanders decided there is sufficient evidence to hold a court-martial.
The formal charges include involuntary manslaughter, wrongful use and distribution of controlled substances and conspiracy to use controlled substances.
A date for the court-martial trial has not been sent.
Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company
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Michael Waddington is a court martial lawyer – court martial attorney that defends military personnel worldwide as well as deployed civilian contractors subject to the UCMJ. He defends Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, and civilian contractor court martial cases. He has successfully defended military personnel as a court martial lawyer Army Navy Marine & Air Force court martials in Germany, England, San Diego, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fort Bragg, Fort Jackson, Fort Stewart, Fort Gordon, Italy, Iraq, Kuwait, Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Yokota, and throughout the United States. military-defense-lawyer-recentcases.htm.
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