Ex-Army sergeant sentenced to life in barracks slaying

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A former Army sergeant has been sentenced to life in prison for fatally slashing and stabbing a fellow soldier dozens of times in his barracks. A U.S. District Court judge in Savannah, Georgia, sentenced Byron Booker on Thursday. Booker pleaded guilty last fall to premeditated murder in the June 2020 slaying of 21-year-old Army Spc. Austin Hawk at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Federal prosecutors said 29-year-old Booker plotted to kill Hawk in coordination with another soldier whom Hawk had reported to superiors for using marijuana. Court records say Booker entered Hawk’s barracks room late at night and killed the young soldier. Prosecutors said the medical examiner found 40 wounds.