Master at Arms 2nd Class Jackson Bower pleaded guilty to a lesser charge Monday, in connection with the death of Master-at-Arms Third Class Lyndon Joel Cosgriff-Flax during a boating incident on the York River last year, in April 2024.
The two sailors were part of a security unit at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown. During Bower’s initial hearing in January, the Navy said Bower was driving the boat which struck the sailor.
Bower pleaded guilty to dereliction of duty. As part of the plea agreement, the Navy dismissed the charge of negligent homicide. Bower was sentenced to 70 days confinement at the Naval Consolidated Brig in Chesapeake. He will retain his rank but the 24-year-old sailor waived his right to an administrative separation. He will receive an other-than-honorable discharge once his time is served.
Bower’s private attorney Peter Kageleiry, Jr., said that his client accepted responsibility for his role in the death of Cosgriff-Flax, but that the Navy could have prevented the death.
“Justice in this case has been delayed because of a reflexive preference to avoid command and systemic accountability,” Kageleiry said in a written statement. “I believe the Navy has a moral obligation to provide a full accounting regarding the shortcomings which set the conditions for this tragedy to occur. MA2 Bower took responsibility. The command and the Navy should do the same.”
The father of Cosgriff-Flax, the sailor who died in the incident, also asked the Navy to open court to seek out anyone else who can be held accountable for his son’s death, according to the statement from Kageleiry.
During the initial hearing in January, Kageleiry stated that the Navy did not provide adequate training and oversight for security units. Questions were raised about whether the security patrol boats were uniform in size for consistent training and operation.
At the time, Navy attorney Lt. Ashley Young described Bower as performing an unauthorized exercise dubbed “chase the rabbit,” where one boat follows closely behind another.
The day of the accident, Bower was part of a group of sailors who were giving a tour of their area of responsibility to a sailor who had just transferred into the unit.
Questions were raised by his attorney about whether it was Bower’s responsibility to keep Cosgriff-Fox off of the bow during the exercise.
The Navy did not provide additional details about the case.
Bower enlisted in the Navy in July 2018. Originally from Colorado, he has been with the harbor patrol unit at Yorktown since April 2022. He was awarded the Navy and Marine Achievement Medal, a Meritorious Unit Commendation and the National Defense Service Medal.
