Victim's family seeks to help her avenger(Afghanistan)

WASHINGTON -- The family of the social scientist who died after being attacked with a burning pitcher of gasoline in Afghanistan is asking a federal judge to be lenient with the New Orleans security contractor who apprehended and later shot and killed her attacker.

Sentencing the man to prison "would be putting our family through even more anguish," said Paul Loyd, the brother of Paula Loyd, 36, who died in a San Antonio hospital two months after the attack that burned 60 percent of her body.

Don Ayala, 46, who has lived in New Orleans for the past five or six years, worked as a private security contractor assigned to protect Loyd and other members of her team, pleaded guilty last week to voluntary manslaughter. He faces up to 15 years in prison, although prosecutors are recommending a significantly lower sentence when he faces federal Judge Claude M. Hilton on May 8 in Alexandria, Va.

Loyd's family, the Army and others have recently revealed more information about the attack on the social scientist, as well as about her role in the war-torn country, a role some colleagues and Afghans describe as heroic.

Her family released portions of a wish list that Loyd prepared before the attack, in case she became a victim of the growing violence in Afghanistan. That list includes setting up a scholarship fund so that Afghan girls, who were denied an education by the Taliban, could attend her alma mater, Wellesley College in Massachusetts.

"It's typical of Paula, always wanting to help people," her brother said. "There just aren't enough people like her in the world."

Ayala attended Loyd's funeral in San Antonio last month, where he impressed her friends and family with words of his regret at her loss and accounts of

Don Ayala (left) has pleaded guilty to killing the man who attacked Paula Loyd (right) in Afghanistan.

N.O. man admits killing detainee

Plea bargain struck in Afghan incident

WASHINGTON -- A New Orleans security contractor has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for the November killing of an Afghan man who had thrown a burning canister of gasoline at a social scientist working with American troops.

Don Michael Ayala, 46, faces a maximum 15-year sentence, although prosecutors have agreed to recommend a significantly reduced prison term. Until the plea deal was signed late Tuesday, Ayala had faced a second-degree murder charge, which could have led to a life sentence.

According to a government affidavit, Ayala, a divorced father of three, was walking a patrol in the Afghan village of Chehel Gazi, when a man identified as Abdul Salam lit a container of flammable liquid and threw it on social scientist Paula Loyd, 36. She was burned over 60 percent of her body and died Jan. 7 at a San Antonio hospital, after more than two months of treatment in which she was never taken off the critical list.

After the attack, according to a Justice Department affidavit, Ayala chased after Salam, and drew his pistol, but did not fire out of concern for the safety of others who also were pursuing Salam. With the help of soldiers, Salam eventually was apprehended and restrained with plastic handcuffs.

After several minutes, according to the affidavit, a soldier and an interpreter came to the scene. The interpreter yelled at Salam and "kicked him into an adjacent creek," according to the affidavit.

Ayala, the affidavit said, retrieved Salam from the creek, and placed him back on solid ground. But when told that Loyd had been badly burned, he pushed his pistol against Salam's head and shot him, killing him instantly.

Loyd was part of the Army's Human Terrain Team, which provided the military with help dealing the cultural norms in Afghanistan and Iraq. At the time of the attack, Loyd was distributing candy and discussing gas prices with her eventual attacker, Salam. Later, according to the Defense Department, the Taliban took credit for the attack.

Ayala, who worked for Strategic Analysis, a Virginia military contractor, is an Army Special Forces veteran whose previous security work has included guarding Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Friends said that Ayala and his girlfriend moved to the Garden District from California in 2002 or 2003 because they wanted a change from the West Coast and loved New Orleans.

U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton will impose sentence on May 8 in Alexandria, Va.

“Judge Claude M. Hilton (born 1940 in Scott County, Virginia) is a judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. President Ronald Reagan nominated Hilton on May 15, 1985, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333. Judge Hilton was confirmed by the Senate on July 10, 1985, and received commission on July 11, 1985. Hilton served as chief judge from 1997-2004, and assumed senior status on December 31, 2005.

In May 2000, Chief Justice William Rehnquist appointed Hilton to serve as a judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. His term on this court expired on May 18, 2007.

Hilton received his B.S. from Ohio State University in 1963; he obtained his J.D. from the American University Washington College of Law in 1966.”

We’ll see what this very senior jurist does with this matter.

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