The Navy has charged a fellow sailor
with the death of August Provost, a gay sailor found dead on June 30
in a Camp Pendleton guard shack near San Diego, California, the AP
reported.
Officials said Thursday they have
charged Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Campos with 16
charges, including the murder of Provost. Campos is assumed to be
the person of interest being held in the brig at Miramar Marine Cops
Air Station since July 1.
Provost of Houston, Texas was found
dead about 3:30AM on June 30, a Tuesday.
“While allegedly attempting to gain
access to the ACU FIVE compound Campos encountered Seaman Provost at
the sentry station at which point Campos allegedly shot him multiple
times,” said Captain Matt Brown, a Navy spokesman for Navy Region
Southwest. “In an apparent effort to conceal evidence after Seaman
Provost was shot, Campos allegedly took the sentry's firearm, and
then set fire to the guard shack.”
The Navy also charged Campos, 32, with
arson, unlawful entry, theft of military property and wrongful
possession of a firearm, among another charges. Campos served with
Provost in the same unit.
The Navy asserted once again that there
was no evidence to suggest that Provost was a victim of an anti-gay
hate crime: “No information has been gathered to date to support
allegations of a hate crime,” Brown said. Several family members
have said that Provost had complained about being harassed by fellow
sailors because he was gay.
“I'm not sure the charges will settle
our questions about August being harassed or murdered for his sexual
orientation,” Rose Roy, Provost's aunt, told the San Diego
Union-Tribune.
Campos, a decorated sailor who joined
the Navy in 2001, had been involved in a rash of criminal activity,
including a June 13 break-in of a sailor's residence where he stole
an Xbox and the .45-caliber pistol used to kill Provost, a June 20
drunk driving arrest, and a July 1 solicitation to murder another
active-duty sailor, Brown said.
“We must remember that the Navy lost
a well-respected sailor who was standing his assigned watch in his
appointed place of duty,” Brown said. “Our thoughts and
condolences go out to the family and friends of Seaman Provost, and
we will continue to provide support and assistance to the family.”
Provost joined the Navy in March 2008,
after completing three years of college, to help finance his
education. He was studying to become an architectural engineer.