Sunday, June 20, 2010:
Master Sergeant Pedro Mercado, 47, died after he was hit multiple times in the shooting that took place at the U.S. Army Reserve Center on Fort Gillem, just south of Atlanta.
“My husband got shot and killed,” said his widow from her Stockbridge, Georgia, home. “It’s been tough.”
The suspect, who has not yet been identified, remains in custody after he turned himself in at the nearby Lake City Police Department.
Mercado, a father of three, grew up in Mott Haven before he graduated high school and began his long career in the military, said the widow, who asked not to be identified because the investigation is continuing.
“That’s what he loved,” she said. “Family and military.”
Mercado and the suspect were assigned to the Army Medical Department Professional Management Command. The unit helps with the readiness of medical units.
His two sons followed in his footsteps and are active military, she said. “They lost their father,” his widow said. “It’s rough.”
Military officials have charged Staff Sergeant Rashad Valmont with murder in the fatal shooting of Master Sergeant Pedro Mercado at Fort Gillem, U.S. Army spokeswoman Major Lenora Hutchinson said on Tuesday.
.Records obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution show that the 29-year-old Valmont was a direct report of the man he is accused of shooting to death.
The charge of premeditated murder was recommended Tuesday by the U.S. Army’s criminal investigations command under Article 118 of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice.
Valmont, a native of the Virgin Islands, is being held in pretrial detention at an undisclosed military institution.
Mercado, 47, died from multiple gunshot wounds Thursday afternoon at the U.S. Army Reserve Center in Forest Park. The married father of three lived in Stockbridge.
Valmont was Mercado’s direct report at the personnel management branch of the U.S. Army Medical Professional Management Command.
Mercado was second in command of the group of soldiers and civilians who helped to manage the careers of all Army medical professionals nationwide.
Mercado is survived by a wife — also a soldier — and three children.
He had been in the Army for 29 years, serving with the 82nd Airborne in Kuwait, Germany and Kosovo, earning three Meritorious Service Medals, six Army Commendation Medals and seven Army Parachutist badges.
“The U.S. Army extends it’s deepest condolences to Master Sergeant Mercado’s family,” Hutchinson said Tuesday.
Valmont faces the death sentence or life in prison if found guilty, according to article 118 of the UCMJ:
“Any person subject to this chapter who, without justification or excuse, unlawfully kills a human being, when he— (1) has a premeditated design to kill; (2) intends to kill or inflict great bodily harm; (3) is engaged in an act that is inherently dangerous to another and evinces a wanton disregard of human life; or (4) … is guilty of murder, and shall suffer such punishment as a court-martial may direct, except that if found guilty under clause (1) or (4), he shall suffer death or imprisonment for life as a court-martial may direct.”
Next, Valmont’s case will go through an Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a civilian grand jury, meant to asses the truth of the charges to ensure there is a basis for prosecution, prior to convening a general court martial, or military trial, Army officials said.
The U.S. Army is holding a 29-year-old soldier, from the Virgin Islands, in pre-trial confinement, as the suspect in the June 17 shooting of Master Sgt. Pedro Mercado, at Fort Gillem in Forest Park, according to a statement from the Army.
The soldier, Staff Sergeant Rashad J. Valmont, has been charged with premeditated murder under the section of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) that deals with murder, according to a written statement from Army spokesperson, Major Lenora Hutchinson.
Mercado, 47, a resident of Stockbridge, Georgia, was shot multiple times on June 17, 2010, at the U.S. Army Reserve Center, at Fort Gillem. Mercado was the Noncommissioned Officer-in-charge of the Personnel Section at the Army Medical Depot Professional Management Command, where Valmont worked as a human resource specialist.
“A charge of premeditated murder was preferred against Staff Sergeant Rashad J. Valmont, under Article 118 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” Hutchinson said in her written statement.
Although Hutchinson stressed Valmont is presumed innocent unless he is proven guilty, his life could be on the line when his case goes to trial.
Under Article 118 of the UCMJ, a person “shall suffer death, or imprisonment for life as a court-martial may direct,” if he or she is found guilty of premeditated murder, or kills another person while “engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration or burglary, sodomy, rape, robbery, or aggravated arson,” according to a copy of the UCMJ found on the Army’s web site, www.army.mil/.
Hutchinson said the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command is still investigating the shooting. The Army has not released any information about a possible motive for the shooting. Valmont allegedly turned himself in to Lake City police after the shooting occurred.
Mercado’s funeral will be held today, at noon, at the Redemption Fellowship Church, which is located at 418 Ga. Hwy. 279, in Fayetteville, according to both an obituary that ran in a local newspaper, and a woman who answered thse church’s phone. There will be a visitation at the church from 10 a.m., to noon.
A casket team carries the remains of Master Sergeant Pedro Mercado during a burial ceremony at
Arlington National Cemetery Thursday, July 22, 2010
Funeral services are held for Master Sergeant Pedro Mercado at Arlington National Cemetery Thursday, July 22, 2010.
His wife, Sgt. 1st Class Kimberly Mercado, seated at far left. His mother, Nelda Mercado of New York, is at far right.
The family of slain Master Sergeant. Pedro Mercado says farewell as he is buried at Arlington National Cemetery
Thursday, July 22, 2010. His widow, Sgt. First Class Kimberly Mercado, second from left, salutes as she is joined by his three children at right.
Nelda Mercado of New York grieves as her murdered son, Master Sergeant. Pedro Mercado, is buried
at Arlington National Cemetery Thursday, July 22, 2010
Nelda Mercado of New York grieves as her murdered son, Master Sergeant Pedro Mercado, is buried at
Arlington National Cemetery Thursday, July 22, 2010
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Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard