A Seabee drove his car head-on into a massive rock and killed himself the day before he was supposed to appear at a California court-martial hearing on child pornography charges, officials and legal records indicated.
Construction Electrician Constructionman Kirkland Warren Whitmyre, 22, steered a Hyundai Sonata off the Pacific Coast Highway and into Mugu Rock in Ventura County early on March 18, according to the county’s medical examiner and sheriff’s office.
That’s about 15 miles from where Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4 is stationed at Naval Base Ventura County.
Capt. Eric Hatlee of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said authorities were dispatched to the crash around 5:40 a.m. on March 18.
“Evidence and witness statements” suggested the fatal accident was intentional, he said.
“There was no evidence of skid marks or indications he collided with anything prior to cause loss of control,” Hatlee said in an email. “Witnesses also stated they did not see/hear braking or any evasive movements prior to the head on collision into the rock.”
Hatlee said investigators found no signs of alcohol or drugs in the vehicle.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Whitmyre was pronounced dead at the scene.
Whitmyre’s death from multiple blunt force injuries was ruled a suicide, according to Ventura County medical examiner investigator Michael Tellez.
RELATED
Charges against the junior sailor were preferred on Oct. 19 and he was ordered to a general court-martial on Feb. 28.
Whitmyre was accused of receiving, possessing, viewing and distributing child pornography.
A court-martial hearing was scheduled for March 19, according to Navy Region Southwest’s court docket.
Authorities suspected Whitmyre used Dropbox and Google Drive accounts to receive, possess and view “videos and digital images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct” from July 2016 to November 2016 in Okinawa, Japan, and Oxnard, California, according to the legal filings.
Whitmyre also was charged with possessing outlawed videos and images on his cell phone in Japan and California from July 2016 to August 2017, charge sheets indicated.
Prosecutors alleged he “knowingly and wrongfully” distributed child pornography from Oxnard in June 2017 as well.
Whitmyre’s battalion held a memorial for him on March 28 at Naval Base Ventura County, according to the unit’s Facebook page.
A Facebook eulogy points to his first Navy deployment to Okinawa in 2016, where his work “bolstered logistics support for multiple construction projects.”
It was also where prosecutors alleged that Whitmyre received, possessed and viewed child pornography.
“He embodied the Seabee motto ‘with compassion for others, we build — we fight, for peace with freedom,’” the post states. “He will be greatly missed by all that had the honor to serve with him.”
Whitmyre enlisted in May 2015 and reported to his unit in December of that year, according to Navy records.
If you are a service member or veteran in crisis, please call 800-273-8255, then press 1, or access online chat by texting 838255. This confidential and immediate service is there to support you or your loved ones. You are never alone.
Geoff is the managing editor of Military Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.
