A Marine Corps reservist has been charged with murder in the death of an Emerson College student who succumbed to brain damage sustained during a fight in Boston last year, military officials said.
Lance Cpl. Samuel Boris London is also facing military charges of manslaughter, assault and battery and wrongful use of a controlled substance in the October 2019 death of Daniel Hollis, a 19-year-old sophomore who died at a hospital four days after the beating, the Boston Globe reported.
Police found a bloodied Hollis unconscious with severe head trauma in the city’s Allston section on Sept. 28, 2019. London, who was visiting Boston while on pre-deployment leave, was allegedly linked to the altercation, but a Massachusetts grand jury in February declined to issue indictments in the case, the newspaper reported.
Hollis, a marketing communications major set to graduate in 2022, died from blunt force head injuries, a coroner found.
Relatives said they believe Hollis struck his head on cement during a confrontation between him and his friends and another group of “college-aged” young men outside a pal’s apartment.
“We miss him every day,” a statement posted Sunday on a website in his memory reads. “We know his loss is felt far beyond our immediate family and while nothing [will] bring him back, there is no longer the frustration and despair that the accused would not be called to account for their actions. It may be later than we had hoped, but the justice system is at work.”
Hollis’ family said they were “devastated” when a Suffolk County grand jury declined to indict anyone in his death.
“At that time, we felt that there was no justice for our son, our family and all those who Dan loved and loved him in return,” the statement continued. “We carried on … [b]ut did not forget and we carried the disbelief and anger like a boulder chained around our necks.”
Hollis was also a goalkeeper on Emerson’s lacrosse team, the Berkeley Beacon reported. The team’s coach said he always saw Hollis happy and upbeat.
“He just had a great personality, great energy,” coach Matthew Colombini told the newspaper last year. “He was smiling the whole time, he asked a bunch of great questions. He was just excited about the school, and lacrosse, and was just very outgoing.”
London was officially charged by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service on Sunday, the outlet reported.
A Marines spokesman told the Globe on Monday that London remains assigned to Rifle Company A, 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, where his duty status is Selected Marine Corps Reserve.
He remains in pretrial confinement ahead of a motion hearing set for April in Quantico, Virginia. His court-martial is scheduled for April 26 in New Orleans, MassLive.com reported.