A Marine Corps investigation has been launched in South Carolina following the death of a 21-year-old recruit on Tuesday during a physical fitness test.
Private First Class Noah Evans of Decatur, Georgia died last Tuesday during a physical fitness test aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, officials said.
His cause of death is still under investigation.
Evans was a recruit assigned to Mike Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion and Recruit Training Regiment, according to Fox News.
In 2021, three new recruits died on the island.
Military.com reported:
This marks the fourth death at the base in two years.
In June 2021, Pfc. Dalton Beals, 19, of Pennsville, New Jersey, died during the last leg of marine recruit training, the Crucible. The exercise involves a 48-mile journey over 54 hours with 45 pounds of gear, 36 stations and problem-solving exercises with four to six hours of sleep and limited nourishment.
Beals’ fellow recruits described being discouraged from seeking out medical assistance and were mocked. Beals died of hyperthermia.
In November 2022, Smiley was charged with negligent homicide for Beals’ death. As of Wednesday, those charges are still pending.
In September 2021, another recruit, 21-year-old Pvt. Anthony Muñoz, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, died after “falling” from a balcony in an “apparent suicide,” MCRD Parris Island officials previously told the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
Pfc. Brandon Barnish, 26, of Evans, Georgia, was found dead at the training depot on Sept. 29, 2021, according to the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
Including Evans, there have been at least 10 deaths on Parris Island since 2000.
