Two men who are cousins have been charged with murder in connection with the death of a U.S. Marine who was assaulted and left on a Bellflower street, where he was subsequently struck by a passing vehicle, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced Thursday.
Damari Kensey, 21, of Long Beach, and Jaymel Williams, 28, of Inglewood, have pleaded not guilty in connection with the May 28, 2024, death of Peter Chounthala, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Chounthala was leaving a bar in Bellflower shortly before 2 a.m. that day when the two allegedly followed him outside and beat him in an attack that left him lying in the middle of Artesia Boulevard, in active lanes of traffic, where he was subsequently struck by a vehicle soon afterward, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
That driver did not stop and has not been identified, authorities said.
Sheriff’s officials said last year that the car that struck him was a dark-colored, four-door 2021-23 Kia K5 sedan.
Chounthala — who was described as an active-duty Marine and a married father of a 3-year-old son — died at the scene.
His cause of death was listed as blunt traumatic injuries, according to records from the county medical examiner’s office.
“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,” Hochman said in a statement announcing the charges. “We will not tolerate this violence in our communities. I want to thank the dedicated detectives of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for their outstanding work apprehending the suspects.”
Kensey and Williams are due back in a Norwalk courtroom next Wednesday. A date is scheduled to be set then for a hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to allow the case against them to proceed to trial.
The two could each face a potential life prison term if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney’s Office.