Military court hears accused soldier’s case

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – A 24-year-old Washington-based soldier accused of fatally stabbing a fellow soldier after a verbal confrontation in 2013 appeared in military court Friday.

Pvt. Jeremiah Hill was at Joint Base Lewis-McChord for his first preliminary hearing in a court-martial that could send him to prison for life.

Hill is accused of stabbing 20-year-old Spc. Tevin Geike in a Lakewood street in October 2013.

The Army has charged Hill with murder, premeditated murder and manslaughter, the News-Tribune reported.

Prosecutor Capt. Patrick Sandys said Hill knew his actions could be fatal. But Hill’s defense attorney, Capt. Austin Fenwick, said the killing was not planned.

Hill had been awaiting trial in Pierce County Superior Court, but last month county prosecutors agreed to transfer the case to the military court at the Army base.