Court martial ends in conviction

CANNON AIR FORCE BASE — A court martial for the July 4, 2018 shooting death in Clovis of a Cannon Air Force Base airman ended Monday with an involuntary manslaughter conviction and dishonorable discharge, according to base officials.

Airman First Class Sean Harrington was charged Jan. 3 with murder, assault with an unloaded firearm, communicating a threat, and marijuana and cocaine use in connection with the death of A1C Marcus Jimenez at a residence in northeast Clovis.

Officials said at the time that an airman called and said his friend was shot in the head after the two of them were “playing” with a gun and drinking alcohol.

Jimenez, 23, of Olton, Texas, died July 10 in a hospital in Lubbock. District Attorney Andrea Reeb gave jurisdiction to the military, and the court martial for Harrington started June 24 this year.

Harrington, stationed at CAFB since 2013, was found guilty of “wrongful use of marijuana and cocaine on diverse occasions,” “communicating a threat” and involuntary manslaughter, “a lesser included offense of the original charge of murder while engaging in an act inherently dangerous to another,” CAFB media chief John Rebello told The News in an email Monday.

A military panel sentenced Harrington to “14 years confinement, reduction in grade to E-1, and a dishonorable discharge.”

Efforts to contact prosecuting and defense attorneys in the court martial were unsuccessful.