Update: Jonathon Campos has committed suicide.

Navy petty officer Jonathan Campos has been charged with the murder of August Provost III, a gay sailor who was shot multiple times while standing guard duty at Camp Pendleton in San Diego. Provost had confronted Campos as he attempted to break into a secure compound and set fire to a hovercraft.

“The Navy lost a well-respected sailor who was standing his assigned watch, who was standing at his appointed place of duty,” Capt. Matt Brown, a Navy Region-Southwest spokesman in San Diego, said during a news conference at Naval Base San Diego. Provost was training to go on his first deployment later this year.

Brown refuted allegations that Provost’s shooting was a hate crime, a charge raised by some of the sailor’s relatives and friends because Provost had not hid his homosexuality or bisexuality from others and reportedly had complained that he had been harassed.

“No information has been gathered to date to support allegations of a hate crime or a crime that was gang related,” Brown said, adding that the command had received no complaints from Provost of harassment.

Brown said he didn’t know if Campos and Provost knew each other well in the 500-member unit.

Campos has recently been arrested for DUI, and is now alleged to have committed other illegal activities,  including the “use of psilocybin mushrooms, and breaking into another service member’s home to steal $5,400 worth of electronics, jewelry and a .45 caliber pistol.”

Campos is now facing ten criminal charges, including murder, arson, attempted arson, wrongful possession of a concealed and stolen firearm, unlawful entry and stealing military property.

Gay sailor August Provost was found dead Tuesday early morning on the Camp Pendleton base in San Diego, after complaining to his family that he was being harassed. A person of interest is already in custody but no charges have been filed. Gay activists and a local congressman, are viewing the killing as a potential hate crime. Local news coverage below…

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has released the following statement:

“Our thoughts are with the Provost family at this time as authorities work to learn what happened in the early morning hours this past Tuesday,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.  “The Human Rights Campaign has confirmed Congresswoman Susan Davis has been in touch with officials at the base and is tracking the investigation.  We know that every day members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community are targeted for simply being who they are.  Furthermore, our gay or lesbian soldiers struggle with the extra burden of not serving openly and honestly based on the discriminatory policy of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ As we monitor the investigation, our community must continue to raise awareness on a law that we know hurts military readiness and national security while putting American soldiers at risk.”

Provost’s partner, Kaether Cordero of Houston, learned of the news of his partner’s death from a newspaper reporter. He said that while Provost was openly gay, he kept his life quiet for the most part. “People who he was friends with, I knew that they knew… He didn’t care that they knew. He trusted them.”

Seaman August Provost was only 29.