A Norfolk-based sailor died on deployment last month, the Defense Department announced Monday.
Boatswain's Mate Seaman Yeshabel Villot-Carrasco died June 19 aboard the destroyer James E. Williams. The service is investigating Villot-Carrasco's death as a suicide, according to a Navy official who spoke on background to discuss an ongoing investigation.
Shipmates discovered Villot-Carrasco unresponsive, but no more details were immediately available.
Villot-Carrasco, 23, joined the Navy in April 2013 and reported on board James E. Williams that August. Her home of record is Parma, Ohio, according to Navy records.
A message from the commanding officer of the James E. Williams, Cmdr. Curtis Calloway, was posted on the shipombudsman's Facebook page June 20.
"She was a young, vibrant Sailor setting out on her first deployment," Calloway wrote. "After crossing the Atlantic and visiting Spain, she helped us get through the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea. Tragically that is where her cruise ended."
Calloway wrote that Villot-Carrasco left behind a husband and her parents, who live in Puerto Rico.
The ship held a memorial service on the mess decks June 20, Calloway said.
