‘He was always that guy you could count on’

An Army training accident in Afghanistan claimed the life of a Lincoln High School graduate known for his love of music and the watchful eye he kept on his three younger brothers.

Friends and family said Pvt. Neil Turner, 22, was killed this week. His parents, Leland Turner and Charlotte Cox-Turner, left Tacoma early Thursday morning for Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where his remains were being sent.

The Army has not released details about how Turner died. His father wrote on Facebook Thursday, “My son, Neil, was killed during a training exercise yesterday in Afghanistan. When I get all the findings, I will post them.”

Information on Turner’s Facebook page shows he was assigned to Fort Bliss, Texas. The public affairs office at Fort Bliss did not return a call for comment.

Leland Turner’s announcement rippled through a community of East Side Tacoma families who watched Neil Turner grow up. He was the oldest of four brothers. Neighbors remembered him as mindful of siblings Maxwell, Jordan and Tucker.

“He gave his brothers space because they were boys, but he was the one who would corral them,” remembered Tami Scheidt, who lives next door to the Turner family.

“It’s been really hard for all of us,” she said. “He’s gone through some transitions in life, and he hit his late teens and he just grew up. He starts making good choices, and then this happens.”

Scheidt’s mother, Lynnette Rogers Scheidt, organized a candlelight vigil for Turner’s friends to grieve together on a chilly winter night. About 50 of them gathered, quietly sharing memories and crying together. Lynnette Scheidt also lives in Turner’s neighborhood, near the vacant Gault Middle School.

Turner “moved here when he was in eighth grade, and he said, ‘I don’t want to be here, I don’t want to be here,’” Lynnette Scheidt told Turner’s friends at the vigil. “Then he met you, and he was like, ‘I’m home.’”

Turner graduated from high school in 2008. Friends said he enjoyed hip-hop and talked constantly about mixed martial arts. At one point, Tami Scheidt said, the Turner boys kept instruments and played music in their garage.

Matt Zimmerman, 23, said Turner talked about joining the Army while they attended Lincoln together. Turner enlisted a little more than a year ago and deployed early this fall. They saw each other for breakfast in December when Turner was home on leave.

“It seemed to me that he loved it. All the pictures I’ve seen of him deployed, he was smiling,” Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman remembered Turner as a popular student and a reliable friend.

“He was always that guy you could count on,” Zimmerman said.

In recent months, Turner’s Facebook page was full of jokes, a little bragging about infantry life and comments to his friends and family.

On Dec. 13, he wrote: “Had guard for the last four hours and it was a clear night. I got to see my first meteor shower, too, so if you need any wishes fulfilled, just hit me up.”

Adam Ashton: 253-597-8646

This story was originally published January 13, 2012 at 12:00 AM with the headline "‘He was always that guy you could count on’."