An Alaska-based soldier from South Carolina will serve nearly 12 years in a military prison and be dishonorably discharged after killing a fellow soldier on Christmas morning.
Spec. Marshall D. Drake Jr., of Mount Pleasant, S.C., was sentenced today (Thursday) after being convicted in a general court-martial of involuntary manslaughter.
The 23-year-old Drake was accused of shooting Pfc. Grant W. Wise, of Fairport, N.Y., in Drake's barracks room on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.
A witness at the court-martial said Drake and Wise continued their Christmas Eve drinking into the early morning hours, when the shooting occurred.