Army specialist charged with murder of fellow Fort Drum soldier

Editor’s note: This story has been updated.

The Army has charged a Fort Drum, New York, soldier with killing a fellow soldier stationed at the post, officials confirmed.

Officials charged Spc. Riley Birbilas on Monday with the premeditated murder of Spc. Jacob Ashton and obstruction of justice, according to a Fort Drum release .

Ashton, 21, originally from Perry, Ohio, served in the same battalion as Birbilas. He was found dead at Fort Drum on Aug. 5.

Officials did not specify where his body was discovered or his cause of death.

Birbilas has been placed in confinement until his Article 32 hearing, at which an officer will review the evidence in the case and recommend whether it should go to court-martial.

Capovilla and Williams, the law firm representing Birbilas, said in a statement to Military Times that the case “is in the initial stages of the military justice process and a complete and thorough investigation into the facts is nowhere near complete.”

“We look forward to providing SPC Birbilas with a vigorous defense to these charges and ask that the public reserve judgment until the investigation is complete and he has his day in court,” the law firm said.

Birbilas enlisted in the Army in 2021 and currently serves in the Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.

Ashton deployed to Iraq last year with the 10th Mountain’s 2nd Brigade, according to the Army.

“Our entire commando family feels profound sorrow for the loss of Jacob,” Col. Anthony Gore, 2nd Brigade Combat Team commander, said in a statement following Ashton’s death. “While words do little to ease the pain of Jacob’s passing, we are a family, and we will wrap our arms around his family as well as support each other.”

Fort Drum employs more than 15,000 service members and nearly 4,000 civilians, according to the Defense Department.

The Army Criminal Investigative Division, which is investigating the matter, declined to comment.