JBLM Soldier Pleads Guilty to Gorge Amphitheatre Murders and Assaults

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – A Soldier pleaded guilty to the June 2023 murders of Brandy Escamilla and Josilyn Ruiz and the wounding of three other… JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – A Soldier pleaded guilty to the June 2023 murders of Brandy Escamilla and Josilyn Ruiz and the wounding of three others during his court-martial Nov. 2 – 5 at the Cascade Court Complex at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Spc. James M. Kelly, 29, a fire support specialist assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, also pleaded guilty to charges of domestic violence, reckless discharge of a firearm, and the wrongful use and possession of psilocybin, a Schedule I controlled substance. The military judge sentenced him to 70 years of confinement, reduction in rank to E-1, and a dishonorable discharge from the Army.

On June 17, 2023, Kelly was attending a music festival with his girlfriend at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Quincy, Washington, when he ingested psilocybin and started exhibiting paranoid behavior. After the couple returned to their campsite, Kelly used a handgun to shoot and kill Escamilla and Ruiz, two women he did not know that were passing nearby. Kelly continued shooting, striking a bystander in the shoulder before moving away from the campsite with his girlfriend. When she dialed 911 and attempted to intervene, Kelly assaulted her and