Sgt. 1st Class John David Randolph Hilty, U.S. Army
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve. Sgt. 1st Class John David Randolph Hilty, 44, from Bowie, Maryland, died March 30, 2020 in Erbil, Iraq, of a non-combat related incident. The incident is under investigation. Hilty was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
Sgt. 1st Class John David Randolph Hilty entered the Army in April 1999 as an Army combat engineer. His most recent military occupational specialty was petroleum supply specialist. Hilty’s deployments include three tours to Afghanistan from January 2009 to December 2009, January 2012 to December 2012, October 2016 to October 2017 and most recently to Iraq in October 2019.
Army veteran Brandon Brown 34, of Harker Heights, Texas, formerly of Shelbyville, Tennessee was found unresponsive on March 20, 2020 in his Harker Heights, Texas home. The Harker Heights Police Department’s cause of death ruling was suicide (self-inflicted gunshot wound). Brandon was preceded in death by his brother, Cameron Matthew Murray. He is survived by his parents and six siblings. According to family, Brandon was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army in 2013 and his last place of duty was at Fort Hood, Texas. Brandon was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Depression; he sought care from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The family feels uneasy about the entire situation and rightfully wants answers and justice for their loved one. Why would the local police department refuse entry in a “crime scene” when the death was ruled suicide? Why was the family not allowed to make an identification? Why did it take so long for them to receive Brandon’s body? Why was the Justice of the Peace pressuring the family to agree with the suicide ruling? Why pressure the family to cremate their loved one when it’s entirely up to them to make that decision. Help us hold the Harker Heights Police Department accountable and elevate the family’s voices so they can get Justice for Brandon Brown.
The circumstances surrounding the death of Brandon Brown are described in the below testimony by family:
On March 20, 2020 my brother, Brandon Brown, was found deceased in his home in Harker Heights, Texas. My mother received two phone calls before the detective called, one phone call she received was informing her the police gained access to the house, and then the other was a female telling my mother “She needed to get a pen and paper and write down this phone number. It’s not good but you have to hear it.” Then she went on to say, “It’s bad but not that bad.” Leaving us with false hope that Brandon was okay. Once the detective called my mother he informed her Brandon was found his home deceased and it was an apparent suicide. No one had heard from Brandon since around March 11, 2020. Family members called asking the Harker Heights Police Department to do a welfare check numerous times and we had the Veterans Affairs on the phone expressing the importance to get into his house due to Brandon having PTSD and depression. In the police report the detective wrote,” … there was no indication anything was wrong…”
On March 21, 2020 we arrived in Harker Heights, Texas at Brandon’s residence and there were two vehicles in the driveway. Two of my siblings got out of the vehicle to see who was at Brandon’s house and a man answered the door and quickly pulled the door up to his neck when my siblings stated who they were. He told them and my mother they could not come in because it was an active crime scene. As they were walking back from the house, another vehicle pulled up and a female got out with an attitude, and told my mother the man in the house was correct, it’s an active crime scene, he was the only one allowed in the house. (She was also on the phone with a person I choose not to identify at the moment.) The police were called and we got back into the vehicle to wait for them to arrive. While we were waiting both the male and female were on the porch laughing, pointing at the car, and going in and out of Brandon’s house. Neither of these individuals know any of us in the vehicle but gave statements to the police on March 20, 2020 saying we were “wretched” and “… it could get ugly.” The other individual stated “she was familiar with the family and was actually on the phone with her brother…”
It took exactly a month for them to release Brandon’s body so we could bring him back to Tennessee. They did not allow my mother or Brandon’s father to identify his body. The Justice of the Peace even tried to pressure my mother into say she believed Brandon died by suicide. They were pushing for cremation telling us his skin was falling off the bone.
We, the Brown family, need your help to find out what really took place with our loved one. We have reasonable doubt that foul play has taken place with our loved one. We do not believe the Harker Heights Police Department’s investigation was thorough or efficient in their findings.
“Spc. Freddy Beningo Delacruz Jr., 23, was one of three dead people discovered at about 1:40 a.m. in a unit of the Summerlyn Apartments in Killeen by local police officers who were responding to a call about a water leak, according to the Killeen Police Department. The other victims were a man and a woman, who were identified Tuesday as Army veteran Shaquan Markell Allred, 23, and Asia Cline, 22.”
“Killeen detectives are asking anyone who might have seen anything or has information about the homicides to contact Crime Stoppers at 254-526-TIPS (8477) or go online at www.bellcountycrimestoppers.com. Anonymous tips also can be sent through the P3Tips App for IOS or Android. All information is confidential and anonymous and if a person’s tip leads to the arrest of the person(s) responsible, that person could be eligible to receive a reward up to $1,000 in cash.”
Fort Hood Army Spc. Shelby Tyler Jones, 20, was shot at a night club near the post and discovered dead about a half a mile away at Mickey’s Convenience Store in Killeen, Texas in the early morning hours of March 1, 2020. According to a press release issued by the Killeen Police Department, officers immediately began performing life-saving measures while they waited for emergency medical services to arrive. Shelby Jones succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene by Justice of the Peace Daryl Peters. Peters ordered an autopsy to be performed at the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas, Texas. During the Killeen PD investigation, they determined the shooting happened about 40 minutes earlier at Club Dreams. Police are still searching for the shooter, but they said they are investigating Jones’ death as a homicide.
Shelby Jones served in the U.S. Army for almost three years. He and his wife resided in Temple, Texas, while he served at nearby Ft. Hood. He is survived by his wife, parents, and two siblings. According to a Fort Hood press release, Spc. Jones is from Jena, Louisiana and entered the Army after high school in May 2017 as a cavalry scout. He joined Fort Hood’s 3rd Cavalry Regiment in August 2018 and deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Inherent Resolve from May 2018 to January 2019. Homicide detectives determined that Jones was shot at Club Dreams on S. Fort Hood Street and are asking anyone who was at the club that night and may have seen anything or have information to contact Detective Uvalle at 254-501-8854 or the Bell County Crime Stoppers at 254-526-TIPS (8477).
“We are asking anyone who may have seen anything or has information about this murder, to contact Crime Stoppers at 254-526-TIPS (8477) or go online at http://www.bellcountycrimestoppers.com. You can also download the P3Tips App for IOS or Android and give an anonymous tip. All information is confidential and anonymous and if your tip leads to the arrest of the person(s) responsible, you could be eligible to receive a reward up to $1,000 in cash.” –Killeen PD Press Release
Press Releases:
Killeen Police Department Press Release for Shelby Jones (March 1, 2020)
Fort Hood Press Release for Death of Shelby Tyler Jones (screenshot of press release because Fort Hood will delete this)
MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL 