MILITARY

A member of the U.S. Coast Guard accused of murdering his shipmate was released from a California military prison this week, as prosecutors amended the charges against him.

Seaman Ethan Tucker, 21, is charged with killing Seaman Ethan Kelch, 19, while their vessel, the Kodiak-based Cutter Douglas Munro, was stopped for repairs in Unalaska last winter.

A U.S. Coast Guardsman accused of murdering his shipmate has been released from custody as he awaits his next hearing.

Seaman Ethan Tucker, 21, was released Monday from a military prison in San Diego, where he's been confined since late August. He's charged with seven violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice for killing Seaman Ethan Kelch, 19, during a night of heavy drinking in Unalaska last winter.

At a prelimary hearing Wednesday in California, military prosecutors argued that U.S. Coast Guard Seaman Ethan Tucker, 21, "choked out" and punched Seaman Ethan Kelch, 19, during a fatal night of heavy drinking in Unalaska last winter.

That's according to a report by the San Diego Union-Tribune's Andrew Dyer, who covered the hearing at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

The U.S. Coast Guard is holding a preliminary hearing Wednesday for a seaman charged with killing his Cutter Douglas Munro shipmate in Unalaska last winter. 

The hearing's purpose is to determine whether there's probable cause that Seaman Ethan Tucker, 21, of Ludington, MI, struck and strangled Seaman Ethan Kelch, 19, of Virginia Beach, VA, before leaving his body in waters near the port.