Spc. Richard Hanna Killed in accident gun fire

Friends recall, mourn soldier slain in shooting
By Noah Bierman
Globe Staff / February 25, 2008

Richard Gee Hanna enlisted in the Army to rebuild his life, after a tough upbringing in Leicester. After two years in Iraq, he returned to the United States last month, ready to complete his military career and move to Hawaii to start a life with his new wife and her 2-year-old daughter.

Instead, the 24-year-old Army specialist was shot to death earlier this month, in what friends in Massachusetts said may have been an accident during a party at a residence in Killeen, Texas, near the Fort Hood military post.

His death came just days before he was scheduled to return to Massachusetts and reconnect with close friends. He was planning to introduce them to his wife of about a year, and serve as best man in the wedding of a friend, Jason Avanecean, in Putnam, Conn.

"The kid was everything to me," said Avanecean, who has postponed his wedding.

Killeen police, Fort Hood public information officers, and the Bell County district attorney said the matter is under investigation, but declined to release more than spare details.

"All parties involved in the death have been identified," police said in a written statement earlier this month. No charges have been filed.

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