A Naval Weapons Station Yorktown sailor pleaded guilty Monday at a Special Court Martial to dereliction of duty resulting in the death of a fellow sailor last year.
Master-at-Arms Second Class Petty Officer Jackson Bower was the coxswain on a boat traveling on the York River on April 28, 2024, when Master-at-Arms Third Class Lyndon Joel Cosgriff-Flax fell off the bow and was struck.
According to reporting by WHRO, Bower’s small boat was involved in an unauthorized exercise called “chase the rabbit,” where one boat closely follows another.
Bower faced charges of negligent homicide and making a false official statement to investigators in addition to two dereliction charges. It is unclear what happened to the other charges.
He was sentenced to 70 days confinement in the Navy’s Chesapeake Brig. He was facing up to eight years in prison on the previous charges.
Emma Rose Brown, 757-805-2256, emma.brown@virginiamedia.com
