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Marine beaten then hit by car dies, CA officials say. Now 2 cousins charged
Peter Chounthala, who enlisted in the Marines in 2008, was planning on retiring at the end of 2024.
And his plans for retirement were already set, his wife, Jurina Chounthala, said at a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department news conference in July.
'He was going to be a stay-at-home dad, and he was going to take care of the house,' Jurina Chounthala said.
Peter Chounthala's family, though, never saw him retire.
He died after he was beaten, left in the street and hit by a passing car in Bellflower on May 28, 2024, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said in a June 12 news release.
'I feel like this life we built together is so unfamiliar,' Jurina Chounthala said. 'Waking up every day and realizing that he's no longer here … It's a painful reality.'
And now, nearly a year after Jurina Chounthala's pleas to the public for information about her husband's killing, two men have been charged, prosecutors said.
Two cousins, Damari Kensey, 21, of Long Beach and Jaymel Williams, 28 of Inglewood, are each facing a murder charge in the death of Peter Chounthala, prosecutors said.
During their arraignments, both men pleaded not guilty, prosecutors said.
'This brutal and senseless act took the life of a husband, father and Marine who served our country with honor, including tours in Afghanistan and multiple Marine expeditionary units,' District Attorney Natain Hochman said in the release.
'Senseless acts of violence'
After Peter Chounthala left a Bellflower bar in the early morning hours of May 28, Kensey and Williams followed him, prosecutors said.
The pair 'violently beat' Peter Chounthala and left him 'lying in the middle of Artesia Boulevard, in active lanes of traffic,' prosecutor said.
A short time later, a passing car hit Peter Chounthala, prosecutors said.
The driver did not stop and has yet to be identified, according to prosecutors.
Peter Chounthala died on scene, prosecutors said.
'Investigators believe Mr. Chounthala was an innocent victim of these senseless acts of violence,' Lt. Patricia Thomas with sheriff's department said at the news conference announcing a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in Chounthala's killing.
'He was everything to me'
Family told investigators Peter Chounthala was a man who was 'loved by all, generous and caring and always willing to help anyone in need,' Thomas said.
'He was everything to me, to my family,' Jurina Chounthala said. 'He's like the glue that held all of us together.'
The couple, who met when they were both stationed in Okinawa, Japan, was married for 11 years and welcomed a son during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Jurina Chounthala, an active-duty Air Force member, said.
'Since becoming a father to our son, he has been just the best dad,' Jurina Chounthala said.
While it's painful being a widow, Jurina Chounthala said the loss is even greater knowing her 'son is without a father.'
'I have so many pictures of just him standing in front of pictures of his dad, because I'm sure he's so used to seeing his dad and hearing his dad,' Jurina Chounthala said.
Kensey and Williams, who are each being held on $2 million bail, are scheduled to appear in court June 18, prosecutors said.
Bellflower is about a 20-mile drive southeast from Los Angeles.
