3 Marines Plead Not Guilty to Drive-By Slaying Charges

As their families and fellow Marines stood behind them, three Marines who served in combat in Iraq pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges stemming from a drive-by shooting outside a San Diego taco stand that left one sailor dead and two sailors and a civilian wounded.

Prosecutors allege that the shooting followed a confrontation between Marines and sailors at an on-base nightspot that was sparked by rivalry over a woman. The slain sailor also served in the war against Iraq.

San Diego County Superior Court Judge Peter Deddeh declined a request from defense attorneys to allow the three Marines to return to Camp Pendleton despite a promise by Marine authorities to confine the three to their base and ensure that they show up at their next court hearing.

Lance Cpl. Myron A. Thomas, 21, of Fort Bend, Texas, was charged with murder and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon. Lance Cpl. Bernard Jones, 19, of New Orleans was charged with being an accessory after the fact to the murder for allegedly disposing of shell casings from the semiautomatic gun used in the attack. Lance Cpl. Kenneth Hall, 19, of Rankin, Miss., faces the same charges as Thomas for allegedly being the driver.

“My son is a good boy, a baseball player, he’s never been in trouble,” said Thomas’ tearful mother, who would not give her name, as she left the courthouse. “None of these boys have been in trouble.”

All are part of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, and were decorated for their service during the offensive to topple the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Hall and Jones received the Combat Action Ribbon, which is given only to Marines who have been under enemy fire. The three returned from Iraq in mid-September.

Prosecutors said that after an altercation Nov. 19 at the Club Metro, a nightspot on the 32nd Street Naval Station, Thomas and Hall angrily left the club. After getting a semiautomatic weapon, they drove by a taco stand about 2:30 a.m. and Thomas fired five or six shots, authorities said.

Seaman Roderick Little, 22, of Alabama was struck in the leg and bled to death. Little had served in the Persian Gulf on the aircraft carrier Constellation and was soon to join the amphibious assault ship Boxer.

Two sailors and a female civilian were wounded. One of the sailors required surgery; the other victims received emergency care and were released.

After an investigation by San Diego police and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, four Marines were initially arrested Friday at Camp Pendleton. After additional investigation, prosecutors decided not to charge one of the Marines, a lance corporal from San Bernardino.

The prosecutor declined to say whether the alleged murder weapon was a Marine Corps weapon.

Thomas was held without bail. Bail for Hall was set at $1 million and for Jones at $150,000. Deddeh set a bail review hearing for next week.

Attorney Allen Bloom, who was retained by Hall’s family, presented letters from a minister in Mississippi who called Hall “very naive and kind of country” and from a first sergeant who referred to him as “respectful, caring and obedient.” None of the three have prior criminal records, Deddeh was told.

Still, the judge said the bail amounts were correct given the seriousness of the charges. Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Groch said he would oppose the request by defense attorneys to allow the three to be placed in Marine Corps custody before trial.

“When you look at the charges against these Marines, and the amount of prison time they are facing, we would oppose any reduction” in bail, Groch said.

Lt. Toby Flinn, acting as an observer of the court proceedings for the Marine Corps, said he knew the three defendants in Iraq. The three joined the Marines in the months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, records show.

“This is quite a shock to all of us,” said Flinn. “These are great Marines who did a great job for us in Iraq.”