By Delayna Earley
The Island News
A Marine recruit was found dead early Monday morning, June 12, at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, according to a press release issued on Friday, June 16.
Pvt. Marshall Hartman was pronounced dead at 7:18 a.m., Monday by Beaufort County Coroner David Ott.
According to the press release, Hartman died from a “non-training incident” and the cause of death is currently under investigation.
“It would be premature to speculate about individual details because the case is currently under investigation,” said Maj. Philip Kulczewski, Director of Public Affairs at MCRD Parris Island.
Hartman was on his sixth day of recruit training at the time of his death and had been assigned to Delta Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, Recruit Training Regiment.
He was 18 years old and originally from Prescott, Mich.
Pvt. Hartman is the fifth person to die at Parris Island since 2021 and his death comes almost two months after Pfc. Noah Evans died during a physical fitness test.
Pfc. Dalton Beals, 19, of Pennsville, N.J., died of hyperthermia in June 2021 while completing the Crucible, which is the final part of a recruit’s training at Parris Island.
The Crucible is a physically taxing 54-hour exercise that recruits are required to complete before becoming Marines.
Beals’ drill instructor, Staff Sgt. Steven Smiley, was charged with negligent homicide in November 2022 after an investigation discovered that Smiley did not follow protocols to stop training due to extreme heat on the day Beals died.
Smiley’s trial date in Beals’ death is currently set for July 17, 2023.
Pvt. Anthony Muñoz, 21, of Lawrence, Mass., died in September 2021 after falling from a balcony in an apparent suicide, according to MCRD Parris Island officials.
Pfc. Brandon Barnish, 26, of Evans, Ga., was found dead in September 2021 at the training depot.
As of Tuesday, June 20, there have been no updates in the investigation, and The Island News has no details on services for Hartman.
Delayna Earley lives in Beaufort with her husband, two children and Jack Russell. She spent six years as a videographer and photographer for The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette before leaving the Lowcountry in 2018. After freelancing in Myrtle Beach and Virginia, she joined The Island News when she moved back to Beaufort in 2022. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
