MARINE INSTRUCTOR'S NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE TRIAL COMMENCES - Braxton Youth Died In Pool

(02/22/2006)

The court-martial of a Marine swim instructor charged with negligent homicide begins today in South Carolina. The trial comes just more than a year after a Braxton County recruit drowned in a pool at the Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot. On trial is twenty-seven-year-old Staff Sergeant Nadya Lopez. Her defense will focus on poor performance of 19-year-old Jason Tharp of Sutton, West Virginia, during basic training. Tharp was in his fifth week of 12 weeks of training, frequently expressing unhappiness with the training. He wrote home numerous times saying he wanted to get out of the Marines, which he joined to get money for college. Military authorities allege Lopez ignored signs that Tharp was having trouble and continued to push him while he was having trouble swimming. Some of the DIs conduct was caught by a camera filming for a local TV station.

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