Byrd, a native of Newport News, Va., was only four weeks out of boot camp on April 28, 2018, when he received his first off-base liberty from Parris Island, S.C. "It was my first time being off of the island," he said in the news release. He traveled to Savannah, Ga., got a motel room and slept late the next day. As Byrd was returning to his room from breakfast that morning and was crossing the lobby, he heard shrieks coming from a hallway behind the reception desk. "The next scream was just horrible," he said. "That scream was enough...
