Ex-Army sergeant pleads guilty to barracks knife slaying

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A former Army sergeant has pleaded guilty to killing a fellow soldier found dead in his barracks from dozens of stab wounds and cuts. Byron Booker faces a mandatory life sentence in the June 2020 slaying of 21-year-old Army Spc. Austin Hawk at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Court records show Booker pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal charge of premeditated murder of a U.S. military service member. Federal prosecutors said 29-year-old Booker plotted to kill Hawk in coordination with another soldier whom Hawk had reported to superiors for using marijuana. Booker acknowledged in his plea that he entered Hawk’s barracks room late at night and that he slashed and stabbed the young soldier repeatedly. Prosecutors said the medical examiner found 40 wounds.