Sailor gets 5½ years for heroin death

[Hoppi aka Angie]

Sailor gets 5½ years for heroin death

By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Jun 21, 2009 14:22:31 EDT

A junior sailor was sentenced to five and a half years in the brig Wednesday for negligent homicide after he was convicted of abandoning another sailor who was dying of a drug overdose outside a motel near Great Lakes, Ill.

During general court-martial, Gas Turbine Systems Technician (Mechanical) Fireman Justin McMurrin, 26, was convicted in the death of Machinist’s Mate Fireman Recruit James Stephens, 20. Stevens was found dead outside a motel July 20.

Stephens’ death was one of three heroin-related fatalities among sailors or recruits near Great Lakes last year.

While on liberty, McMurrin left Stephens “alone in a semi-conscious state outside the Crossland Economy Studios Motel in Waukegan, Ill.,” according to court documents.

The death was a “reasonably foreseeable consequence of Fireman McMurrin’s failure to request medical assistance and concealing the location of Fireman Recruit Stephens,” according to court documents.

McMurrin also hid Stephens’ cell phone and lied to a local police detective who was investigating the death, court records show.

After a three-day trial in a Great Lakes courtroom, McMurrin was convicted of negligent homicide, wrongful use of drugs, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and failure to obey an order, court documents show.

His rank will be reduced to E-1 and he will be dishonorably discharged, said Ken Cronk, a spokesman at Great Lakes.

McMurrin was assigned to the Center for Naval Excellence Learning Site at Great Lakes. He advanced to E-3 in December, Navy records show.

Autopsy reports showed Stephens consumed a lethal combination of heroin, cocaine and anti-anxiety medication.

Other heroin-related deaths from Naval Station Great Lakes included Seaman Recruit Owen Martinez, 18, who died March 3, 2008.

In Martinez’s death, local prosecutors in Illinois have charged Kelton Lewis, 24, with drug-induced homicide, and the case is pending in state court, according to Lake County prosecutor Stephen Derue.

Damage Controlman Fireman Apprentice Michael Falzone, 24, died June 7, 2008, in a heroin-related incident, according to the Naval Station Great Lakes base newspaper.

Heroin is typically not a popular drug among sailors. Opiates, which includes heroin, account for less than 7 percent of drug tests that turn up positive, according to Navy officials.


navy times

[Kimberly Rad Bryan's Mom!]

I can say that I remember all of these deaths from last year. Having had many conversations with my son who was in GL at the time, we both thought the deaths were tragic and preventable. It is such a prevalent and addictive substance, it is a shame that such circumstances bring our young sailors to an unpleasant ending.

[CCR]

I was horrified to hear these incidents when ours and our friends children were in boot camp/A school up in Great Lakes.
I mentioned it did not seem a good idea sailors would get a room "to Party" on liberty. There were so many ARI 's our sailor said their whole ship (barracks) were punished and lost their liberty because of a few people who screwed up. Then the train accident and the taxi in the ocean. The girl sailors who are forced to do things they don't want to when they've gone with a group to a hotel room. When my sailor complained about the whole ship losing their liberty, I told him I thought he was better off.

[Kimberly Rad Bryan's Mom!]

I know when Bryan was there, he was lconfined to base a few times. I said the same thing. Better off confined than to be in the middle of a mess. Hopefully we have all learned something from the past.

[Sharon]

When I read this posting, I felt uneasy about the use of the sailors names on this site. I know they are all adults and it is public record. However, the sailors that used poor judgement and died as a consequence, have families left behind. The grief these moms must feel is something I cannot even imagine. For us to further blacken their sons name is unnecessary. The sailors who were culpable in all of these circumstances will have to live with this the rest of their lives. Navy for Moms should not be giving these sailors or their families this extra " boot in the belly ".