Suspect found guilty of fatally shooting fellow Marine in SC air station barracks, officials say
The suspect in the death of 21-year-old U.S. Marine Cpl. Tyler Wallingford, who was fatally shot in the barracks of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort more than nine months ago, was found guilty in military court of involuntary manslaughter earlier this month and sentenced to more than five years.
Wallingford, of Standish, Maine, was fatally shot around 9:30 p.m. on April 12, U.S. Marine Corps officials said at the time.
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Soon after the shooting, a fellow Marine, 21-year-old Cpl. Spencer Daily, from Youngstown, Ohio, was identified as a suspect and taken into custody, officials also said.
Both men were aircraft ordnance technicians with Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501.
“NCIS initiated an investigation based on allegations that Daily shot and wounded a fellow Marine in his barracks room,” the Naval Criminal Investigative Service told The Island Packet in an emailed statement Friday.
On Jan. 6 at a general court-martial, Daily was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and willful discharge of a firearm under circumstances to endanger human life, according to the statement.
“Daily claimed that while drinking alcohol and playing a video game with the victim, he pointed his gun and accidentally shot the victim,” the statement said.
He was sentenced to 69 months of confinement.
Wallingford was a fourth-generation firefighter and served as a volunteer firefighter in Standish, Maine, from 2013 until he joined the military in 2016. He also served as a reserve firefighter for the Beaufort/Port Royal Fire Department.
This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 12:57 PM.
