Two men have been arrested and charged in connection with the brutal 2024 murder of a 42-year-old active-duty United States Marine in Los Angeles County, officials announced.
The violence, according to a news release from the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office, occurred around 2 a.m. on May 28, 2024, outside of a bar in Bellflower.
Prosecutors allege that 21-year-old Long Beach resident Damari Kensey and 28-year-old Inglewood resident Jaymel Williams, who are cousins, followed Peter Chounthala out of the bar and violently beat him, leaving him seriously injured in the middle of Artesia Boulevard, near Virginia Avenue where he was then struck by a motorist who failed to stop, identify themselves or render aid.
The driver who hit the 42-year-old has not been identified, authorities noted.
Deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, along with paramedics with the L.A. County Fire Department arrived at the location and declared Chounthala, a husband and father of a 3-year-old boy, dead at the scene.
“Investigators believe that Mr. Chounthala was an innocent victim of these senseless acts of violence,” LASD Lt. Patricia Thomas said at the time.
Even two months after the deadly attack, detectives had few, if any, leads, including descriptions of the suspects involved, prompting the L.A. County Board of Supervisors to offer a $20,000 reward in the case.
The 42-year-old serviceman was set to retire later in the year and planned to be a stay-at-home dad, his grieving wife said at a press conference announcing the reward.
It’s unclear how detectives linked Kensey and Williams to the violent assault, when the cousins were arrested or if authorities received a tip that led to their arrests.
Both men have since been charged with one count of murder and are each being held on $2 million bail.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for June 18. If convicted as charged, Kensey and Williams face a maximum sentence of life in state prison.
