A soldier assigned to the Fort Irwin National Training Center, Calif., has been charged in the death of a fellow soldier at the base on Oct. 28, 2024, the Army said. (U.S. Army)
The Army has charged a soldier in the death last month of a fellow soldier at the Fort Irwin National Training Center in the desert southeast of Los Angeles.
Spc. George Cornejo, 26, is accused of killing Spc. Andrew Patrick Smith, 27, according to the U.S. Army Office of the Special Trial Counsel at Fort Belvoir, Va.
Cornejo, who is from Fontana, Calif., was formerly charged Nov. 20 for the Oct. 28 death of Smith.
Both soldiers were assigned to the 11th Armored Calvary Regiment, according to the Army. Cornejo is a construction equipment repairer, while Smith was a utilities equipment repairer.
The Army said military police went to Smith’s residence on the base on Oct. 28 and found the injured soldier. He was transported to Weed Army Community Hospital at Fort Irwin, where he was pronounced dead.
Fort Irwin is a major desert combat training facility 70 miles northeast of the town of Victorville in San Bernardino County.
The Army said the exact cause of death remains under investigation. Cornejo was detained the following day as part of the investigation.
Cornejo is being held in pretrial confinement at the Naval Consolidated Brig in Miramar, Calif., according to a report from the Southern California Newspaper Group.
The case remains under investigation by the Army Criminal Investigation Division. A preliminary hearing in the case has not been entered in the Army’s judicial docket.
Smith, whose hometown is listed as Rye, N.Y., enlisted in August 2021 and was assigned to duty at Fort Irwin in March 2022, according to the Army.
Fort Irwin posted the news of Smith’s death on social media on Oct. 31. At the time, officials reported his death was still under investigation.
“Spc. Smith was loved by many and highly regarded amongst the team,” Capt. Kevin Black, commander of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, wrote in a post to the Fort Irwin Facebook page.
