The entrance to Fort Drum, N.Y. is shown in this undated file photo. (U.S. Army)
A Fort Drum soldier faces a murder charge in the death of another soldier in his 10th Mountain Division unit at the Army post in upstate New York, service officials said Tuesday.
The Army charged Spc. Riley Birbilas on Monday with counts of premeditated murder and obstruction of justice in the death of Spc. Jacob Ashton, the division announced in a news release. Birbilas was arrested Friday by civilian law enforcement and held for the military. He was booked into the Oneida County jail, near Oriskany, N.Y., about 70 miles south of Fort Drum, jail records show.
Ashton, 21, of Perry, Ohio, was found dead at Fort Drum on Aug. 5, Army officials said. Service officials have not said how he was killed.
Ashton and Birbilas enlisted in the Army in 2021 and were assigned to the headquarters of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment in the 10th Mountain Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, according to the service.
They had both served on a recent nine-month deployment to Iraq and Syria in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the effort to stamp out the Islamic State’s remaining fighters. Division officials have described the June 2023 to April 2024 deployment as turbulent. The unit’s soldiers faced repeated drone and missile attacks from enemy forces, especially after the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel by Hamas militants.
Ashton earned a Combat Infantryman Badge on the deployment, showing he had directly participated in ground combat with enemy forces during the rotation. Ashton was also awarded the Army Commendation Medal with combat “C” device, during the tour, records show.
The Army did not release information about any awards that Birbilas, who is from Kodiak, Alaska, received during the deployment.
He faces the death penalty or life in prison if convicted of the murder charge, according to military law.
Army officials said Birbilas was being held in pretrial confinement as of Tuesday, while he awaits an Article 32 preliminary hearing. That hearing is the military justice system’s rough equivalent to a grand jury proceeding, in which evidence is presented to determine if the case should move forward. That hearing has yet to be scheduled, according to Army court records.
Robert Capovilla, a lawyer representing Birbilas, said the investigation into the incident was still in its early stages.
“What we do know, however, is that the information we have at this point creates far more questions than answers about what happened,” Capovilla said in a statement. “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.”
Fort Drum officials declined to comment further on the case, citing an ongoing probe by the Army Criminal Investigation Division. CID officials did not respond to an inquiry on Tuesday seeking additional information, including on Ashton’s cause of death.
