SAN DIEGO, July 6 (UPI) — The death of a U.S. sailor nine weeks ago during rigorous Navy SEAL training was a homicide, a Southern California medical examiner concluded Wednesday.
Navy Seaman James Derek Lovelace, 21, was participating in the Basic Underwater Demolition course at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado near San Diego on May 6 when he encountered difficulties and drowned.
At one point, the video purportedly shows one instructor on an elevated platform point out a struggling Lovelace to another instructor in the pool. Moments later, the instructor in the pool appears to dunk Lovelace underwater and splash water in his direction, the medical examiner’s office wrote in its report Wednesday.
“On 05/06/2016, the decedent was participating in a training exercise located in the pool area of the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado when he was observed to be in distress while in the water,” it states. “The decedent was pulled from the water and was initially responsive. 911 was called and he was transported to Sharp Coronado Hospital where despite aggressive attempts at resuscitation, death was pronounced.”
An investigator in Wagner’s office, Angela Benefiel, noted in the report that the Navy knew Lovelace wasn’t a good swimmer and at one time had been prescribed medicine used to treat asthma.
Basic Underwater Demolition is a notoriously difficult part of SEAL training. Benefiel notes in the report that the exercise, also called Combat Swimmer Orientation, is particularly challenging for trainees because it presents a number of dangerous scenarios.
“While in the water, the instructors are to create ‘adverse’ conditions by splashing, making waves, and yelling at the students. Instructors are reportedly advised to not dunk or pull students underwater. In the video … an instructor on the dive platform appears to point out the decedent, who appears to be struggling,” Benefiel states.
“An instructor in the water approaches the decedent and apparently dunks the decedent underwater. Over the course of the next approximately five minutes, the instructor follows the decedent around the pool, continually splashing him with water. The decedent is also splashed by other instructors in the water.
“At one point, another student approaches [Lovelace] and appears to attempt to assist the decedent in keeping his head above water. The instructor appears to again dunk the decedent and continues to follow him around the water. The instructor also appears to pull the decedent partially up and out of the water and then push him back.”
The report states that one participant involved in the exercise considered calling a “time out” when he saw Lovelace struggling, but ultimately did not.
The official cause of death was listed as drowning, and notes an enlarged heart as a possible contributing factor. The manner of death — homicide.
“Although the manner of death could be considered by some as an accident … it is our opinion that the actions, and inactions, of the instructors and other individuals involved were excessive and directly contributed to the death, and the manner of death is best classified as homicide,” forensic pathologist Kimi Verilhac wrote in the report.
Naval Special Warfare Command spokesman Lt. Trevor Davids said Wednesday that he was aware of the medical examiner’s findings but could not comment due to an ongoing NCIS investigation.
One of the instructors involved with Lovelace during the exercise has been reassigned pending the investigation’s completion, Davids added.
A naval spokesman said Wednesday that it’s too early to tell whether criminal charges may be warranted in this case.
“It is important to understand that ‘homicide’ refers to ‘death at the hands of another’ and a homicide is not inherently a crime,” NCIS spokesman Ed Buice said Wednesday. “The nomenclature of the autopsy report does not signal that the Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation into Seaman Lovelace’s death has culminated, nor that conclusions have been reached regarding criminal culpability. The NCIS investigation is open and active and NCIS does not discuss the details of ongoing investigations.”
Lovelace’s death was the third in the last eight months related to the Navy SEAL training program. In November, two candidates committed suicide after washing out of the program.
