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Danny Chen's Alleged Abuser Recommended for Homicide Charges

By DNAinfo Staff on January 23, 2012 12:29pm  | Updated on January 23, 2012 12:58pm

Pvt. Danny Chen's mom fixes his shoulder cord in Ft. Benning, GA.
Pvt. Danny Chen's mom fixes his shoulder cord in Ft. Benning, GA.
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Facebook/Justice for Pvt. Danny Chen

MANHATTAN — An Army investigator has recommended that one of the soldiers accused of driving Chinatown soldier Pvt. Danny Chen to suicide face a military trial on a slew of charges, including negligent homicide, the military announced Monday.

Spc. Ryan Offutt is one of eight soldiers alleged to have bullied Chen during a tour of duty in Afghanistan, and the first to be subjected to an Article 32 hearing — the military equivalent of a grand jury.

The hearing in Afghanistan ended Monday with an investigating officer recommending that Offutt face a court-martial on all but one of 12 crimes he was originally charged with. The one exception was a charge of manslaughter, which the officer recommended not be pursued.

“The Investigating Officer recommended not moving forward with the charge because he
believed that insufficient evidence was presented at the hearing to justify moving forward with the charge,” an Army spokesman said in an email.

Chen's family expressed outrage over the charge being dropped.

“While the negligent homicide charge is recommended, we are extremely disappointed that the manslaughter charge is not," said Banny Chen, cousin of Danny, speaking for the family. 

"There is a big difference between a 3-year and 10-year maximum prison sentence. The family and the community are not able to see what is happening in these hearings taking place in Afghanistan-the army has the ability to and should televise these hearings."

Chen was found with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound in a guard tower near his base on Oct. 3.

Military officials told Chen's family that Chen was was pelted with rocks and made to crawl across gravel just before he died as punishment for not having the proper gear.

Chen had been allegedly been subjected to racial slurs and physical abuse since deploying to Afghanistan in August 2011.

Advocates also said that Chen's supervisors chose not to document a Sept. 27 incident in which the soldier was dragged out of his bed by a sergeant and pulled over gravel to the shower, leaving him with cuts and bruises.

Offutt, 32, joined the Army in May 2006 and completed a combat tour in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Army investigator concluded that Offutt should go to trial on charges of negligent homicide, reckless endangerment, three counts of assault consummated by battery, four counts of maltreatment and two counts of violation of a lawful general regulation.

Seven other soldiers face Article 32 hearings, which are set to take place before Feb. 20.