A United States navy sailor accused of deliberately starting a fire that destroyed a billion-dollar vessel and wounded several crew members was cleared by a military court judge on Friday.
Military prosecutors said during a nine-day trial at Naval Base San Diego in California that Ryan Mays, then 21 years old, deliberately set the USS Bonhomme Richard on fire in the summer of 2020 because he was angry over quitting his Navy Seal training.
The prosecution’s case was based on an eyewitness whose account changed numerous times and who admitted to feeling “pressured” by authorities when he named Mays as the primary suspect, the defence team countered. According to the San Diego television news station KFMB, there was no physical evidence connecting Mays to the fire.
The accusations of arson and wilful hazarding of a vessel that the prosecution had brought against Mays were not sufficiently supported by hard evidence, according to military judge Derek Butler, who agreed with the defence.
If found guilty, Mays faced a potential sentence of life in prison.
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The lower vehicle deck of the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard caught fire on July 12, 2020, in San Diego Bay. Within two hours, the fire had grown out of control. More than 60 sailors and civilians suffered from heat exhaustion, smoke inhalation, and other minor ailments while it burned for over five days.
The Bonhomme Richard, a $1.2 billion ship, suffered substantial structural, electrical, and mechanical damage as a result of the fire, making it the worst non-combat US Navy warship fire that many people could recall.
On the morning of the fire, the suspect was allegedly observed “sprinting” from the lower car level. But when the second sailor was released from the navy, the inquiry into him came to an end because the military branch no longer had authority over him and he was disqualified as a suspect, according to KFMB.
(with inputs from agencies)
