CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (KGTV) - The trial began on Monday for the fifth sailor charged in the death and alleged cover-up of another sailor on a Southern California military base.
HM2 Edmond Maebane pleaded not guilty inside a Camp Pendleton courtroom to involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment charges.
He and four other sailors were accused in connection to the shooting death of HM3 Michael De Leon during a house party on the Twentynine Palms military base in 2019. The sailors were reportedly drinking alcohol and dry firing guns when a fatal round was fired. Prosecutors said the sailors initially claimed that it was a suicide, not a homicide.
During Monday’s trial, motions were argued. The jury will be introduced to the case on Wednesday when hearings resume. The trial is expected to last for two weeks.
If convicted, the prosecution has asked that Maebane serve up to eleven years behind bars and be dishonorably discharged from the military.
