Two soldiers stationed in Germany
charged in deaths of their children
By Eric B. Pilgrim,
Stars and Stripes
Two soldiers stationed in Germany have been charged in the recent deaths of their
children in two unrelated cases.
Spc. Lillie Morgan of the 266th Finance Command in Hanau has been charged with murder
in the Sept. 18 drowning deaths of her two small children.
Morgan is charged with two counts of murder, one for the death of 3-year-old Joshua M.
Smith and one for 2-month-old Jazmin S. Morgan, according to V Corps spokeswoman Hilde
Patton. Morgan could face the death penalty if convicted.
Officials at V Corps wouldn’t comment on the details of the case, but one said the
next step will be an Article 32 investigation. An officer hearing has not yet been
appointed to conduct the hearing, according to Patton.
In that investigation, a court-appointed officer will comb over details discovered
during the investigation and make recommendations about how to proceed. The Article 32 is
considered the military equivalent of a grand jury hearing.
Morgan, a 22-year-old cashier and dispersing clerk, is being held at the confinement
center in Mannheim, Germany, while awaiting trial, according to a V Corps press release.
In the other case, a 1st Infantry Division sergeant from Schweinfurt was charged with
murder and assault Wednesday in the Aug. 22 beating death of his daughter, according to
division officials.
Like Morgan, Sgt. Rodger V. Smith, could face the death penalty if convicted of
murdering his 5-year-old daughter, Ashley. Officials also charged him with assaulting his
4-year-old son.
Smith works at Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry
Regiment in Schweinfurt.
Investigators allegedly discovered that Smith subjected his children to "extreme
forms of punishment," according to one official familiar with the case. For this,
Smith has also been charged for failure to provide proper nourishment to his children and
failure to intervene when his wife abused them, according to division officials.
Smith’s wife is also in custody, under German jurisdiction. German officials have
charged her with assault in the death and mistreatment of her children, according to a
U.S. official.
German and U.S. investigators assisted each other in an extensive investigation at the
scene, according to division officials. The case will now go to an Article 32 hearing. It
has not been scheduled yet.
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