SUMMARY
ACTIONS
On 2 November 2021, U.S. Marine Corps Corporal Isaiah Guerra acted as a Good Samaritan in an incident that occurred at a restaurant in Hattiesburg, MS where his unit was for a training exercise.
That evening, another Marine suffering from PTSD had a mental breakdown and had carried a minor – that was not his own – out of the restaurant.
Guerra followed the Marine outside to make sure the minor was not hurt. It was Guerra’s first time ever meeting that Marine.
As the situation was deescalating, the mother had come out of the area of the restaurant to which Guerra was able to discuss with the Marine that the child would be safe with his mother. The Marine proceeded to let the child down and the child ran to the mother.
As this happened, the Marine then looked at Guerra and started to cry while apologizing and stating that he was “messed up in the head.” On his behalf, Guerra apologized to the mother and explained that he had believed the other Marine was having a PTSD moment.
Guerra then told the distressed Marine he needed to go to the Marines’ rental vehicle and wait there in order to keep him from causing any more harm. They proceeded to the rental vehicle where they waited – with no intent to drive away – simply to isolate themselves from the situation.
The police soon arrived, separating the Marines from one another. The distressed Marine was arrested. Guerra was detained shortly after.
During this time the minor continuously repeated that Guerra had not done anything wrong.
As the situation unfolded, Guerra was placed in the back of a squad car. After police had finished gathering information, Guerra was let out of the vehicle and handcuffs and was told he was free to go after they collected necessary information.
Following this situation, within a day or two, Guerra had provided a verbal and written statement to the detectives as well as answering all of their questions.
After returning to Camp Lejeune, it was brought to Guerra’s attention that the family involved was pressing charges against the Marine who had the PTSD incident, and the case was going to court.
By word of mouth, Guerra became aware that he was going to be subpoenaed as a witness to the ordeal as he was the only witness to the events described above.
After some time passed, Guerra later became aware that the family had dropped the charges against the other Marine who was diagnosed with PTSD. Guerra never received any notification that charges had been filed against him, nor did he have reason to believe they would be.
Seemingly, after the family dropped the original charges, the Assistant District Attorney (ADA) of Forrest County then choose to move forward with charges – against Guerra – due to the nature of the crime. The ADA determined that Guerra had assisted after the other Marine had taken the child – despite the fact that he was only trying to diffuse the situation.
In November 2022, the ADA chose to indict Guerra without any notification.
On 20 July 2023, as Guerra drove through the front gate of Stone Bay his military ID was scanned, and the gate guard noticed a notification saying there is a warrant in his name.
Guerra was then taken to Onslow County Jail where he stayed until he was transferred into the custody of Forrest County Sheriffs in the morning of 28 August 2023. Guerra was transported to the Forrest County Jail in the late afternoon of that same day. He was then bailed out on 29 August.
Guerra was never provided any paperwork, information or knowledge about the November 2022 charges until August 2023.
Guerra’s next court date is 12 March 2024.
UAP’s Board of Directors accepted Corporal Guerra’s request for support with the intent to raise Congressional support, public awareness, and funds to cover his mounting legal fees.
