A memorial service for the 21-year-old Marine who was slain on the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort has been scheduled for Saturday at a funeral home in Portland, Maine, according to the Associated Press.
Cpl. Tyler Wallingford, of Standish, Maine, was shot and killed inside the air station’s barracks at 9:30 p.m. April 12, Marine Corps officials said.
Wallingford’s body was transported to Maine on Saturday, including a procession along a section of I-95 honoring his service, according to ABC affiliate WMTW in Westbrook, Maine.
Fellow Marine Cpl. Spencer T. Daily, 21, was identified as a suspect in the murder and taken into custody soon after the shooting, officials said.
Both Marines were aircraft ordinance technicians with the Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501.
“Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of our fallen Marine,” air station director of communication strategy and operations 2nd Lt. Kevin Buss said days after the incident.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is the lead agency investigating the murder.
Wallingford was a volunteer firefighter in the same department as his father in Standish from 2013 until he joined the military in 2016, according to WMTW.
Standish Fire-EMS posted a tribute to Wallingford the Sunday after his death, and his personal Facebook page has been flooded with friends and family members’ memories of Wallingford.
“Tyler Wallingford was an amazing soul that touched so many peoples lives in all the best ways possible, with never a dull moment,” his friend Elaine Dudley wrote. “I feel so grateful to have known him and have many good memories to look back on.”
He isn’t the first Marine killed by another Marine this year. Lance Cpl. Riley S. Kuznia, 20, was shot while on guard duty at Marine Barracks Washington, D.C., when he was struck by a bullet fired by a fellow guard on Jan. 1, Stars and Stripes reported.
Visiting hours will be from 9 a.m. to noon with the memorial service to follow at A.T. Hutchins Funeral Home.
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© 2019 The Island Packet (Hilton Head, S.C.)
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