About 18 months ago, Navy corpsman HM3 Michael DeLeon, 30, was shot and killed during a house party on the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps base. Z107.7 News had learned that DeLeon was partying and drinking with at least four other corpsmen—HM3 Mason Williams, 23, HM2 Sterling Wold, 28, HM2 Jesse Humes, 27, and HM1 Ryan Dini, 37. During the party, a gun was brought out and fired, killing DeLeon. DeLeon’s family said they were initially told it was suicide; months later they learned DeLeon had been shot by another corpsman. During a court martial on March 8, HM1 Ryan Dini was charged with dereliction of duty and drunk and disorderly conduct and was expected to plead guilty to dereliction of duty at the special court martial. The guilty plea was supposed to be part of a plea deal, which DeLeon’s family argued against, as it would have allowed Dini to retire with full benefits. In an unprecedented move, Dini’s plea deal was withdrawn, thus continuing the court martial to April 5. After the news of the withdrawn plea deal, reporter Cassidy Taylor spoke with Michael DeLeon’s parents who still have more questions than answers…
“Sandra and I were prepared to give our impact statement on Monday, March 8.”
JD and Sandra DeLeon have been through a lot in the last year and a half, trying to figure out why their son is dead after a party. They claim that the firearm used to kill their son was out at a party for about 30 minutes before their son died, so why didn’t anyone stop it? Specifically, DeLeon’s parents want to know why HM1 Ryan Dini, who was charged with dereliction of duty, and drunk and disorderly conduct, was given a “generous” plea deal. While he isn’t accused of pulling the trigger, he was the highest-ranking individual present, and DeLeon’s parents say he should have pulled rank to stop the death of their son.
“My question to the prosecutors from the get-go is why would you give this individual leniency, … the highest-ranking NCO person… then we had no answers.”
The parents of Michael DeLeon know how he was killed, but not why. And the fight for that answer continues.
“We now are expected to go back April 5 and continue this hearing. It’s very troubling, very troubling that the prosecutor team decided to move forward with this outrageous plea agreement from the get-go.”
Z107.7 will continue to follow this story as more information comes forward regarding HM1 Ryan Dini’s case as well as the cases of all those charged in relation to HM3 Michael DeLeon’s death.
