Soldier faces justice after fleeing to Puerto Rico, pleads guilty to domestic violence crimes
FORT BUCHANAN, Puerto Rico – An Army Soldier who fled to Puerto Rico prior to his court-martial at Fort Stewart, Ga., pleaded guilty to domestic violence crimes during his court-martial at Fort Buchanan Jan. 9.
Pvt. (PV2) Yadiel Dominguez-Nieves, 20, a military policeman assigned to 549th Military Police Company, 385th Military Police Battalion, 3rd Division Sustainment Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga., also pleaded guilty to damaging non-military property and willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer.
While stationed at Fort Stewart, Dominguez-Nieves assaulted his wife on several occasions between February and June 2024. Most of the incidents occurred at their home on post while others occurred while traveling in their vehicle near Pooler, Ga.
After several incidents of abuse, his wife reported Dominguez-Nieves to authorities who referred the case to the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division. At that time, she declined to provide further information to Army CID agents, however a Military Protection Order was issued by the command prohibiting Dominguez-Nieves from contacting or coming near his wife.
Despite the MPO, he violated it on several occasions and returned to the family home where his wife was still living.
After another incident of physical abuse where Dominguez-Nieves smashed his wife’s laptop and makeup, she again went to authorities and this time participated in several interviews with Army CID agents and prosecutors with the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel where she described the abuse she endured.
Shortly before he was set to face justice in military court, Dominguez-Nieves went absent without official leave in July 2025 and fled to Puerto Rico where his wife was residing at that time. He assaulted her again and was arrested by local authorities on July 25, 2025.
Dominguez-Nieves was tried in Puerto Rico by local authorities Aug. 29, 2025, and pleaded guilty to domestic violence. He was sentenced to a total of 27 months of therapeutic restriction and house arrest as an alternative measure to imprisonment. He must join Teen Challenge for an 18 month term with electronic supervision. After that period, he will be under house arrest with electronic supervision at an address that will be determined once he finishes at Teen Challenge.
In order to ensure justice for the entirety of his crimes, OSTC arranged for the court-martial to be held at Fort Buchanan. Since Fort Buchanan does not have a courtroom, 3rd Infantry Division and OSTC worked with 1st Mission Support Command, Army CID’s Fort Buchanan Resident Unit, the Fort Buchanan Garrison Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, the U.S. Marine Corps Det. 1 Landing Support Company, and the 124th Military Police Battalion to ensure a proper venue for the proceeding was established.
In addition to the sentence he received from Puerto Rican authorities, the military judge sentenced Dominguez-Nieves to a bad conduct discharge from the Army per the terms of the plea agreement.
“Pvt. Dominguez-Nieves targeted his wife and abused her over a period of months. This sentence properly holds him accountable, protects society from future harm, and provides closure for his family,” said Capt. Jacqueline Dieguez, prosecutor, Second Circuit, Army OSTC. “Moving the court-martial to Puerto Rico demonstrates that the military maintains worldwide jurisdiction and is capable of seeing justice through wherever it is needed.”
“With incredible and critical support from Fort Stewart and Fort Buchanan Army CID alongside amazing reserve partners in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Army was able to ensure that Pvt. Dominguez-Nieves was held accountable for the crimes he committed against his wife through federal conviction,” said Lt. Col. Kristen Fricchione, Chief, Second Circuit, Army OSTC. “It will always be the aim of the Office of Special Trial Counsel to prevent Soldiers from gaining a benefit in fleeing to another jurisdiction, and through extensive coordination and cooperation, Capt. Dieguez and the 3rd Infantry Division Office of the Staff Judge Advocate proved that the U.S. Army can reach Soldiers anywhere in the world.”
This case was investigated by Army CID’s Fort Stewart Resident Agency and prosecuted by Dieguez and Capt. Patrick Finn, 3rd Division Sustainment Brigade.
The Army Office of Special Trial Counsel is comprised of specially trained military lawyers, legal professionals and support staff responsible for the expert and independent prosecution of murder, sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, kidnapping and other serious criminal offenses. Headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Va., OSTC has eight regional headquarters that oversee 28 field offices located across the country to include Europe and Korea. For more information visit https://www.army.mil/ostc.
If you would like to report a crime, have information about a crime, or have been the subject or survivor of a crime, you can submit anonymous tips to Army CID at www.p3tips.com/armycid.
Green Beret Colonel Threatened to Kill Wife in Front of Children Before Standoff with Police: Affidavit
Military.com | By Matthew Cox
Published December 30, 2020
A Special Forces officer from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington is being held on $1 million bail, accused of holding his wife and children at gunpoint in a drunken rage early Sunday morning that ended in a two-hour standoff with police.
Army Colonel Owen G. Ray, a former commander of 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), has been ordered to reappear in court Jan. 11 with his attorney to face charges ranging from kidnapping and assault to threatening police with a firearm.
Ray’s 16-year-old daughter called 911 around midnight to report that her father, who was armed with a shotgun and two pistols, was in a room with her mother and two younger siblings, and that “she believed her father would kill her if he discovered she had called 911,” according to a probable cause affidavit from the case.
“Dispatch could hear the children screaming inside,” according to the affidavit.
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The incident started with an argument between Ray and his wife, Kristen, who believed that her husband was intoxicated. She was frightened enough to retreat to her 10-year-old and 7-year-old children’s bedroom to hide, according to the affidavit.
Kristen heard her husband say, “let’s do this,” the document states, and describes how Ray then put on his boots and went out to the garage where the guns were stored.
When Ray returned and found his wife and children, he began “shouting and swinging the gun around,” according to the affidavit.
“Kristen threatened to call the police and then did call the police at which point, the defendant became enraged,” the document states. “He pointed the gun at Kristen and threatened to kill her.
“He proceeded to kick Kristen over and over with his boots in the face and chest. The two children had woken up and were screaming, ‘don’t kill mom, don’t shoot us.’”
Ray’s wife tried to get the children out of the bedroom, but he refused to let her leave despite the children’s pleas, according to the affidavit.
When Ray finally relented, “Kristen and the two children raced down the stairs while the defendant was still yelling,” according to the document.
When law enforcement arrived shortly after midnight, the defendant, his wife and three children were still in the house, the affidavit stated, describing how “Ray could be heard saying, that law enforcement had surrounded the house so what choice did he have now and ‘you’re going to force me to kill myself.’”
Ray allowed his wife and two younger children to leave the house at 12:33 a.m. followed by his 16-year-old daughter shortly after, the affidavit states. Kristen, officials said, had a visible cut and abrasions on her nose, a “reddening on her neck and chest area,” and a “large bump on her forehead.”
When police contacted Ray by phone at 12:49 a.m., he told them he would not leave the house alive and that if anyone tried to arrest him, he would kill them,” according to the affidavit.
Ray also told law enforcement he was a 25-year veteran who had spent most of his time in the 1st Special Forces Group.
“He stated that he had killed a lot of people and he had no problem killing law enforcement if they made attempts to arrest him,” according to the affidavit.
During the stand-off, Ray walked out on the balcony and held a pistol to the side of his head, the affidavit states.
Ray eventually calmed down and surrendered to police at 2:22 a.m. After his arrest, police found two handguns and a shotgun in the master bedroom and multiple firearms in a safe in the garage, according to the document.
During his arraignment, earlier charges against Ray were changed to one count of first-degree kidnapping, two counts of second-degree assault, two counts of felony harassment and one count of reckless endangerment, according to the affidavit.
Military.com contacted Ray’s attorney, Jared Ausserer, but did not receive an immediate response.
Ray, who is scheduled to stand trial before a jury on February 18, has been suspended from his current job as I Corps chief of staff while a civilian law enforcement investigation into the case continues, Army officials at Joint Base Lewis-McChord said.
The Army said Monday that I Corps officials will continue to support both Ray and his family and that the “safety of everyone involved is the command’s priority.”
Before assuming the I Corps chief of staff position, Ray commanded the 1st Special Forces Group and held other leadership positions in the Green Beret unit. He served as a detachment commander in 2003 and as a company commander in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2011. He also commanded 4th Battalion, 1st SFG as part of the special operations joint task force, in 2013.
