‘We are in shock’: US soldier found dead at military base, roommate charged with murder

LAKE COUNTY, Ohio (WOIO/Gray News) - A family in Ohio is grieving and desperate for answers after a 21-year-old soldier died while stationed at a military base in New York.

U.S. Army Specialist Jacob Ashton was found dead at Fort Drum on Aug. 5.

Ashton’s sister said they want answers as to what happened.

“Jacob was my first best friend in this world, and he was taken from me, taken from my family,” Alaina Ustupski, the soldier’s sister, said. “We just want answers, and we want justice for Jacob.”

Ashton’s family members say he wanted to join the military since he was a little kid.

“Jacob just always wanted to help people,” Ustupski said. “There wasn’t a mean bone in his body.”

Ashton went to high school in Perry Township. He played football and baseball.

His sister says he was looking forward to coming home at the end of the year and becoming a police officer or a firefighter in Lake County, but he never got the chance.

“Every single day is a nightmare,” Ustupski said. “You know, all I do is cry. I’m trying to take it day by day but it’s hard for my family, it’s hard for everyone.”

According to Ustupski, her heart sank when uniformed soldiers came to the family’s house to tell them the news about her brother.

“I was just hoping it was something else, you know, you see it in the movies, and you know what it means,” she said. “We are just in shock. It has been a nightmare. You know, when they told me, I felt like I was dying.”

Ashton was stationed at Fort Drum in New York. Shortly after his murder, another soldier was arrested in connection with his death.

Authorities reported that fellow U.S. Army Specialist Riley Birbilas, 22, has been charged with premeditated murder and obstruction of justice.

“He didn’t even talk bad about this person,” Ustupski said. “No one knew anything about him.”

The soldier’s family said Ashton and Birbilas deployed to Iraq together in 2023 for nine months. They became roommates in April when they returned to New York.

Ustupski said Ashton was found dead in his car on the military base’s parking lot and that investigators told them he died from blunt force trauma.

“He went to Iraq, didn’t have a scratch on him, and then comes home … thinks he is safe and apparently he wasn’t,” Ustupski said

Birbilas is scheduled to face a court martial. If he is found guilty of murder, he could do life in prison or get the death penalty which is what Ashton’s family is hoping for.

“They said the trial might take up to a year so we’re just trying to take it day by day. We feel like this person shouldn’t even be out in the world. He doesn’t deserve it,” Ustupski said.

Army officials said Ashton enlisted in 2021 and attended Basic Combat Training at Fort Moore, Georgia. He deployed with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team to Iraq in 2023.

His awards and decorations included medals such as the Army Commendation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War of Terrorism Service Medal.

“Our entire Commando family feels profound sorrow for the loss of Jacob. While words do little to ease the pain of Jacob’s passing, we are a family, and we will wrap our arms around his family as well as support each other,” Col. Anthony Gore said. “Let us live in a manner worthy of honoring Jacob’s life and service. As we mourn, I ask each of us to keep his family in our thoughts and prayers.”

Ashton’s family is waiting to get his body back to Ohio before they start planning his funeral services.

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