The family of the Fort Rucker soldier allegedly killed earlier this month by another Army private shovel said they have lingering questions about his death as they laid him to rest in New Jersey .
“We tell him to rest, but we still want answers,” Mohammad Latifu, brother of slain Army Pvt. Abdul Latifu told News 12 The Bronx in New Jersey were held as funeral services for the natives.
“The family is distraught,” Mohamed Latifu continued, adding that his father was too distraught to address reporters. “It’s a heartbreaking tragedy.”
Abdul Latifu, a 21-year-old Ghanaian-American, was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 13th Aviation Regiment, 1st Aviation Brigade, as he trained as an Army Air Traffic Control operator.
Army Times reported A military-issued entry tool – a small steel folding shovel – was involved in the alleged attack.
Pvt. Brian Jones, a 21-year-old trainee attending the Army Air Traffic Control Operator Course at Fort Rucker, has been in custody since the January 10 killing of Abdul Latifu. Army Times reported, Jones now faces a murder charge under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and will remain in custody until trial because the military justice system does not provide an opportunity for bail.
Al-Haj Mohammed Murtala, a member of Abdul Latifu’s family, also suggested that the family did not have full details of the incident.
“We are still in the dark. We are still not informed exactly what happened exactly,” he said. “We need to get to the root of what happened.”
Baraka Abdullah, Latifu’s sister, said it was difficult to understand that her brother was dead.
“Right now, I’m stuck at the point where I feel like he’s not gone,” she said. “I think he’s still here.”
