KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Four more US soldiers are facing a possible court martial over the alleged hazing death in Afghanistan of a 19-year-old fellow serviceman of Chinese descent.
The recommendation from military investigators follows a preliminary hearing at Kandahar Air Field on Monday. Seven of the eight servicemen — originally charged on multiple counts, including involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide linked to Pvt. Danny Chen’s death — could now end up in the military court. Investigators are still examining the case of the eighth soldier.
The final decision rests with the servicemen’s brigade commander and the ISAF commander for southern Afghanistan.
Chen was found Oct. 3 last year with a gunshot wound below his chin in a guard tower of a forward operating base in Kandahar province.
His parents, Yan Toa and Su Zhen Chen, were told that preliminary signs suggested the New Yorker killed himself. But the couple was also told by army investigators that their only child was subjected to taunting and violence at the hands of fellow soldiers.