JBLM soldier pleads guilty to 2023 Gorge Amphitheatre murders and assaults

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Washington — A U.S. Army soldier was sentenced to 70 years of confinement after pleading guilty to fatally shooting two women and wounding three other people during a 2023 music festival in Washington state, the military announced.

Spc. James M. Kelly, 29, pleaded guilty during a court-martial to the murders of Brandy Escamilla and Josilyn Ruiz, along with domestic violence, reckless firearm discharge, and possession and use of psilocybin. A military judge also ordered him demoted to the lowest enlisted rank, E-1, and dishonorably discharged.

The shootings occurred June 17, 2023, while Kelly, a fire support specialist assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment, attended an electronic music festival at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Quincy. Authorities said Kelly ingested psilocybin mushrooms, became paranoid, and returned to his campsite, where he opened fire with a handgun.

Kelly killed Escamilla and Ruiz, two strangers walking nearby, and wounded a bystander. When Kelly’s girlfriend tried to intervene and dialed 911, he assaulted her and shot her twice in the lower body.

Kelly also fired at security personnel and a police drone before responding officers shot and wounded him, ending the assault.

The Army assumed jurisdiction over the case from Grant County prosecutors in February 2026.

Capt. Stewart Miller, a military prosecutor, said the sentence “reflects the seriousness of Spc. Kelly’s conduct and represents an important step towards accountability and justice.”

Kelly will serve his prison sentence at the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

File photo of the Gorge Amphitheatre

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Elkhorn Media Group