Two active-duty soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord are in custody for a man's death, which prosecutors describe as an especially violent crime.
Police recovered the body of Leroy Joseph Scott the day after his 20th birthday. He was badly beaten, authorities say, and was found in a creek near Smithson Road, north of Ellensburg.
Scott had ties to JBLM, but was not in the military at the time of his death.
Two JBLM soldiers were taken into custody. Joshua Gerald for first-degree murder and Raylin James for rendering criminal assistance. Hadassah Fisch of Ellensburg was also arrested for rendering assistance.
Detectives said the soldiers knew Scott through mutual friends and were at a house party in Ellensburg that night.
There's no motive yet, but prosecutors described the death as extremely violent: "This is one of the more violent cases in my 19 years that I've ever worked on, multiple points and sharp force trauma to the victim's head."
Court documents said James told police, "Scott had fingered both he and Gerald for a drug incident back in November, December and that he didn't believe, as of a couple of months ago, that Gerald was over what happened between them."
The detective's statement adds, "Eventually, he (James) admitted to believing that Joshua and Haddie had done something to Scott."
JBLM tells KING 5 they are aware of the incident and are cooperating with Kittitas County law enforcement who maintains the lead in this investigation.
