Italian prosecutors are investigating whether four 173rd Airborne Brigade soldiers who were with another U.S. soldier on the night he died are criminally liable, according to Stars and Stripes.
Sgt. Kevin Connor, 24, was found dead in his barracks after midnight on Oct. 1, after spending Sunday evening watching football and drinking at the base bowling alley at Caserma Ederle military complex in Vicenza, Italy.
By the time Connor and his fellow soldiers left the bowling alley at about 11 p.m., Connor could no longer stand on his own, according to the local newspaper Il Giornale di Vicenza.
The soldiers helped Connor into a room and laid him on his side on the bathroom floor. Not long after that, he was no longer breathing, and the soldiers reportedly called paramedics, according to the Italian newspaper.
Italian authorities are now reportedly investigating whether the group of soldiers was negligent in Connor’s death, Stars and Stripes reported.
Part of the investigation is concerned with whether the other soldiers should have sought help sooner.
“We are saddened by this loss and express our deepest condolences to the family,” Maj. Chris Bradley, a spokesman for the 173rd Airborne Brigade, said in a statement at the time of the soldier’s death.
The men have been appointed an Italian lawyer, Stars and Stripes reported.
Bradley told Stars and Stripes that he did not know whether the Army was going to request jurisdiction in any possible criminal case brought against the U.S. soldiers by Italian authorities.
RELATED
The United States is generally granted jurisdiction in cases on U.S. military bases that involve only Americans.
Connor was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, military officials said.
He had joined the 173rd Airborne Brigade in 2017 and was a recipient of the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, according to Stars and Stripes.
Kyle Rempfer was an editor and reporter who has covered combat operations, criminal cases, foreign military assistance and training accidents. Before entering journalism, Kyle served in U.S. Air Force Special Tactics and deployed in 2014 to Paktika Province, Afghanistan, and Baghdad, Iraq.
