Video: Seeking answers in Marine son’s shooting death
Lance Cpl. Kristopher Cody Warren’s family will stand before a military jury in California today to ask that the friend and fellow Marine who killed Lance Cpl. Warren with a gunshot to the neck in November 2006 be held accountable for his actions.
Cpl. Douglas Michael Sullivan, 23, of Hamilton, Mass., pleaded guilty Tuesday to involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 19-year-old North Georgia man’s death, according to Capt. Joseph Grimm, his Marine Corps defense attorney.
“The judge accepted the plea agreement, and (Wednesday) we start the evidence (for sentencing),” Capt. Grimm said.
Proceedings in Cpl. Sullivan’s court-martial began Tuesday at Camp Pendleton, Calif., where he now is stationed, according to the captain. A jury was impaneled to hear evidence today for his sentencing, which could include a punishment of up to 10 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge, Capt. Grimm said.
Lance Cpl. Warren’s relatives have traveled to California to watch the proceedings, which they have been awaiting for 16 months, said his father, Joe Warren, of Woodstock, Ga.
A 2005 graduate of Gordon Central High School in Calhoun, Ga., the lance corporal was the youngest of a group of Marines from the Chattanooga-based Mike Battery Reserve unit to deploy to Iraq in September 2006. He died just two months later, and a court-martial in his case has been scheduled and rescheduled several times since then.
“I’m relieved that we’re finally getting under way,” Mr. Warren said. “Maybe we can have this behind us finally, and he can move on, and we can move on.”
Mr. Warren declined to discuss what he plans to tell jurors about his son today, but he said he hopes they will realize he wishes no ill will toward Cpl. Sullivan, even as he hopes to see him face some type of punishment.
“It’s helped to be out here and to actually see the young man,” Mr. Warren said. “Seeing his body expressions and facial expressions, you could pretty much tell that he didn’t really mean to do it. ... It was a little relief on me.”
In a stipulation of fact filed in the case, Cpl. Sullivan admitted to pulling the trigger of an M-4 rifle sighted on Lance Cpl. Warren’s face in November 2006. The lance corporal, who was serving with him at the Military Police Command Operations Center on Forward Operating Base Trebil in Iraq, was about five feet away at the time, according to the document.
“When the weapon fired, it completely shocked me,” Cpl. Sullivan said in the statement. “I did not intend to shoot Lance Corporal Warren. Lance Corporal Warren and I were close friends.”
TIMELINE
June 2005: Kristopher Cody Warren leaves for Marine Corps boot camp one week before his 18th birthday.
May 2006: Lance Cpl. Warren leaves to train for deployment to Iraq.
September 2006: Lance Cpl. Warren arrives in Iraq, along with 32 other Marines in the Chattanooga-based Mike Battery Reserve unit. He is the youngest in the group.
Nov. 10, 2006: Lance Cpl. Warren, 19, is pronounced dead after being shot in the face.
Nov. 27, 2006: Cpl. Douglas Michael Sullivan of Hamilton, Mass., is charged with manslaughter in Lance Cpl. Warren’s death.
Tuesday: Cpl. Sullivan pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter in connection with Lance Cpl. Warren’s death, and a jury is selected for his sentencing hearing.
Today: A sentencing hearing for Cpl. Sullivan is scheduled to begin.
