Navy SEAL trainee death now ruled a homicide

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According to the autopsy reporter, surveillance video appeared to show an instructor dunking Lovelace under the water of a pool after he was observed to be struggling.

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A Navy SEAL trainee drowned after an instructor repeatedly dunked him underwater, violating training guidelines and contributing to the sailor’s death, according to a San Diego medical examiner's report released Wednesday that called the incident a homicide.

Seaman James Derek Lovelace died May 6 following a pool exercise at the grueling SEAL basic training course in Coronado. The Navy didn't announce the death until days later after officials were questioned by The Virginian-Pilot and NBC News. Navy officials initially described the incident as a training mishap during a routine exercise. But numerous sources told NBC News and The Pilot the death had been caused by an instructor going too far.

The medical examiner's report agreed: "It is our opinion that the actions, and inactions, of the instructors and other individuals involved were excessive and directly contributed to the death, and the manner of death is best classified as homicide."

Lovelace, 21, of Crestview, Fla., had been struggling during an exercise in which trainees tread water in a pool while wearing combat fatigues and boots, according to the medical examiner’s report. During the exercise, “instructors are reportedly advised to not dunk or pull students underwater,” the report says.

Lovelace was struggling before the instructor put his hands on him, multiple witnesses told investigators. His "face was purple and his lips were blue," according to the report.

In a video of the incident reviewed by investigators, the instructor “approaches the decedent and apparently dunks the decedent underwater. Over the course of the next approximately five minutes, the instructor follows the decedent around the pool, continually splashing him with water. The decedent is also splashed by other instructors in the water. Throughout the time period, the decedent is observed to go under the water multiple times.”

At one point, the report says, another student approached Lovelace and tried to help him keep his head above the surface. Another individual considered “calling a time-out” to stop the exercise, the report said, but he failed to do so.

"The instructor appears to again dunk the decedent and continues to follow him around the water," the report says. "The instructor also appears to pull the decedent partially up and out of the water and then push him back. Eventually, the decedent is assisted to the side of the pool where he is pulled from the water.”

Lovelace was initially responsive but later died, the medical examiner's report says.

He was in the first week of Basic Underwater Demolition/SEALs training, or BUD/S. The six-month course is considered among the most punishing military training programs in the world, with four out of five trainees failing to complete the program and become SEALs.

Lovelace had joined the Navy six months earlier, walking away from a college baseball scholarship to pursue his dream of becoming a SEAL, family members said.

The coroner’s report lists his death as a drowning, with cardiomegaly as a possible contributing factor. Cardiomegaly, better known as having an enlarged heart, can cause heart failure.

The instructor involved, a petty officer first class who joined the Navy in 2008, had continued in his job immediately following the incident. He was removed from duty after a story by The Pilot and NBC News challenged the narrative initially released by the Navy.

The instructor remains on administrative duty, Navy officials said, and no charges have been filed.

Naval Criminal Investigative Service spokesman Ed Buice said his agency's investigation into the death is ongoing, and no “conclusions have been reached regarding criminal culpability."

"It is important to understand that 'homicide' refers to 'death at the hands of another' and a homicide is not inherently a crime," Buice wrote in a statement.

A Navy SEAL spokesman declined to comment on the report, citing the NCIS probe and a separate ongoing investigation by Naval Special Warfare Center, which oversees BUD/S and other SEAL training programs.

"Out of respect for the integrity of the investigative process, we can't discuss the ongoing investigations or any of their individual elements," said Navy spokesman Lt. Trevor Davids.

Lovelace was the fifth SEAL in four months to lose consciousness in a BUD/S pool exercise, according to Navy safety data, a significant increase in reported blackouts compared to previous years.

Following the death, Davids said, the command paused training and retrained instructors on safety protocols.

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