KATE BRUMBACK
Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA – A U.S. Army reservist has been charged with premeditated murder in last week’s deadly shooting of a fellow reservist at a post south of Atlanta, the Army Reserve said Tuesday.
Staff Sgt. Rashad Valmont, 29, was charged under military law in the shooting at the U.S. Army Reserve Center located at Fort Gillem. Master Sgt. Pedro Mercado, 47, was killed in the shooting. No one else was injured.
Valmont, a native of the Virgin Islands, turned himself in to a local police station after the shooting. He was being held Tuesday in pretrial confinement, but the Army Reserve declined to disclose where he was being held.
Army Reserve spokeswoman Maj. Lenora Hutchinson also declined to discuss the motive for the shooting.
An Article 32 hearing will be held to determine whether there is enough evidence to proceed to a trial, Hutchinson said, but she wasn’t sure when that hearing would take place.
Under military law, premeditated murder can be punished by the death penalty. The mandatory minimum for the charge is life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Hutchinson wasn’t sure whether Valmont had a lawyer.
Mercado and Valmont were assigned to the Army Medical Department Professional Management Command. The unit helps with the recruitment, retention and readiness of medical units and personnel.
A woman who answered the phone at a number listed for Valmont declined to comment.
Mercado’s wife, Kimberly, who is also a soldier, said her husband was a great soldier who loved the Army. He enjoyed spending time with his three children and watching animated movies with his two granddaughters, Kimberly Mercado said.