A former U.S. Army soldier has pleaded guilty to the 2020 killing of another soldier who was found dead in his barracks room in Fort Stewart, Georgia, a slaying prosecutors said was retaliation for the victim’s reporting of marijuana use.
Byron Booker, 29, of Ludowici, Georgia, pleaded guilty to premeditated murder in connection with the brutal stabbing death of Spc. Austin J. Hawk, the Justice Department said. He faces life in prison.
Booker plotted Hawk’s death with another soldier, Jordan Brown, 21, after Hawk reported Brown to superiors for smoking marijuana, prosecutors said.
“Byron Booker murdered a former fellow soldier in cold blood in retaliation for that soldier performing his duties as a service member,” said U.S. Attorney Estes, himself a retired U.S. Army Colonel.
Federal prosecutors said Booker sneaked into Hawk’s barracks room on June 17, 2020, after parking his vehicle a mile away outside the Fort Stewart Military Reservation and “unlawfully” walking onto the post. Once inside the barracks room, he “slashed and stabbed Hawk repeatedly with a sharp-edged weapon,” court documents state.
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Army Spc. Austin Hawk, 21, was killed by a former Army sergeant for the reporting drug use of another soldier, federal prosecutors said.
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Hawk was stabbed 40 times, officials said, including a gash to the throat. He was found dead in his room the next day. During the killing, the men got into a struggle and made so much notice that Brown, who was one floor below, could hear furniture moving, prosecutors said.
Brown was being kicked out of the Army at the time of Hawk’s death. Authorities said that Hawk’s role as a squad leader required him to report drug use.
Brown was ordered to undergo urine testing related to Hawk’s report, according to court records. When the results came back positive for THC, Brown was notified that the Army would begin the process to discharge him.
Booker, a former sergeant who had already been honorably discharged, spoke with Brown over the phone about Hawk. By reporting his drug use, Brown believed Hawk “had cost him his position in the Army, his paycheck, his housing, and possibly his relationship with his father,” prosecutors said.
During the phone calls, both suspects called Hawk a “snitch” and talked about silencing him, authorities said.
“The pair discussed beating Hawk up, damaging his car, or breaking things in Hawk’s barracks room,” a plea agreement said.
Fort Stewart, Georgia.
(U.S. Army)
As part of the plan, Booker told Brown to get a master key to the barracks and give it to him. Brown never obtained a key. As the plan progressed, Brown began voicing concerns that killing Hawk could be a step too far, saying at one point that “the punishment should fit the crime.”
He suggested they beat up Hawk. Court documents did not state how Booker gained access to Hawk’s barracks room.
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Prosecutors said Booker knew Hawk would be alone because Brown told him his roommate had recently moved out.
Brown was arrested in April 2021 and faces charges of conspiracy, assault on a U.S. service member, retaliation, murder of a member of the U.S. military and premeditated murder.
He has pleaded not guilty.
