Man convicted in 2018 killing of Fort Campbell soldier

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) — The estranged husband of a Fort Campbell soldier was convicted this week of killing her in a 2018 off-duty shooting at the sprawling Army post on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.

Victor Everette Silvers of Clarksville, Tennessee, was convicted by a federal jury Wednesday of first-degree murder, attempted murder, domestic violence resulting in death, violation of a protection order and other counts in the death of Brittney Niecol Silvers, of Jacksonville, Florida.

Silvers faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison, according to U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors. There is no parole in the federal system. The 33-year-old is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 22 before a U.S. District Court judge for the Western District of Kentucky.

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Federal prosecutors said in February 2021 they would seek the death penalty if Silvers were convicted. But earlier this year, they filed a motion to withdraw that request at the directive of Biden-appointed U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The decision was criticized by Republican U.S. Senator Tom Cotton in an April letter to Garland.

“Why did you ‘authorize and direct’ this action?” he wrote. “Has anything changed since February 25, 2021? Sgt. Silvers deserves justice.”

Court records show a domestic violence order prohibited Victor Silvers from possessing a firearm and ordered him to stay 300 feet (about 91 meters) away from his wife. An affidavit alleges that he went to his estranged wife’s home, where she was socializing with a male friend, and shot both. The friend was wounded but survived.

Brittney Silvers was assigned to the 96th Aviation Support Battalion at Fort Campbell.

Note: This article was reported by the Associated Press