16-year-old Leah King was found dead at 3:30 a.m. Feb. 15 inside a barracks at Fort Lewis.Army files charges against soldier in death of teen at Fort Lewis
March 10,2009
By Jennifer Sullivan / Seattle Times staff reporter
FORT LEWIS, Pierce County — The Army has filed charges against a soldier in connection with the death last month of a 16-year-old girl in a Fort Lewis barracks.
Pvt. Timothy E. Bennitt, 19, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of Leah King. He was also charged with wrongful use and distribution of controlled substances and conspiracy to use controlled substances.
Army officials said during a news conference on the base this morning that Bennitt is suspected of selling drugs on the base. They said Bennitt had been dating King for about a month before her death.
Army officials said King died after taking Alprazolam, an anti-anxiety and anti-depression drug marketed as Xanax, and Oxymorphone, a pain reliever similar to morphine. Investigators believe the pills were crushed into a powder then inhaled through a rolled-up dollar bill, said Col. John Robinson.
Bennitt, from Rolling Prairie, Ind., is a heavy construction equipment operator assigned to the 864th Engineer Battalion, 555th Engineer Brigade on Fort Lewis.
King, 16, was found dead at 3:30 a.m. Feb. 15 inside a barracks at Fort Lewis, where she had gone to see Bennitt. Her 16-year-old friend was found unconscious and spent four days at Madigan Army Medical Center before being released to her mother.
AN UNNECESSARY DEATH...READ MORE
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008836230_webfortlewisdeath10m.html
March 10,2009
By Jennifer Sullivan / Seattle Times staff reporter
FORT LEWIS, Pierce County — The Army has filed charges against a soldier in connection with the death last month of a 16-year-old girl in a Fort Lewis barracks.
Pvt. Timothy E. Bennitt, 19, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of Leah King. He was also charged with wrongful use and distribution of controlled substances and conspiracy to use controlled substances.
Army officials said during a news conference on the base this morning that Bennitt is suspected of selling drugs on the base. They said Bennitt had been dating King for about a month before her death.
Army officials said King died after taking Alprazolam, an anti-anxiety and anti-depression drug marketed as Xanax, and Oxymorphone, a pain reliever similar to morphine. Investigators believe the pills were crushed into a powder then inhaled through a rolled-up dollar bill, said Col. John Robinson.
Bennitt, from Rolling Prairie, Ind., is a heavy construction equipment operator assigned to the 864th Engineer Battalion, 555th Engineer Brigade on Fort Lewis.
King, 16, was found dead at 3:30 a.m. Feb. 15 inside a barracks at Fort Lewis, where she had gone to see Bennitt. Her 16-year-old friend was found unconscious and spent four days at Madigan Army Medical Center before being released to her mother.
AN UNNECESSARY DEATH...READ MORE
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008836230_webfortlewisdeath10m.html
