The Navy has identified a sailor who died last week from a gunshot wound at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois.
Seaman Recruit Kayshawn Wilkerson, 18, died Wednesday following an incident at the base’s firing range, according to the Lake County Coroner’s Office.
An autopsy determined that the death was “consistent with [a] self-inflicted” gunshot wound. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Lake County Coroner’s Office are investigating the death, according to the Navy and Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek.
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“We are saddened to confirm the death of Seaman Recruit Kayshawn Wilkerson, a recruit assigned to Recruit Training Command (RTC), Great Lakes, Illinois, on Aug. 6, 2025,” Navy Public Affairs Officer Lt. Beau Nickerson said in a statement Monday. “The Navy is providing full support to the family, friends and shipmates affected by this tragic loss.”
Wilkerson enlisted in the Navy on June 23 and was attending boot camp at the time of his death. He graduated with honors on May 30 from Forest High School in Ocala, Florida.
Wilkerson’s death is the fifth of a sailor assigned to Great Lakes since April and the first of a recruit.
According to USNI News, two sailors — Chief Gunner’s Mate Daniel Dlask and Machinist’s Mate First Class Jacob Lavold died by suicide on April 18 and May 14, respectively.
Dlask had served at the command since October 2023; Lavold was a recruit division commander who had served there since January 2022.
Chief Damage Controlman Reba Miller died April 28 from complications of alcohol use disorder, and Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Makaio Bartley died May 4 in a car accident that the coroner’s office determined was a suicide.
Naval Education and Training Command has ordered an investigation into the deaths of Dlask, Lavold and Miller. The review is being overseen by Rear Adm. Robert Nowakowski, the unit’s deputy commander.
The Navy had 15 suicides among active-duty sailors in the first quarter of 2025, down from 24 during the same period last year, but up three from the last quarter of 2024. The Defense Department’s Suicide Prevention Office has not yet released suicide data for the second quarter of 2025, which runs from April 1 to June 30.
Across the services, 71 active-duty personnel took their own lives in the first quarter of 2025, according to the DSPO.
The DoD Inspector General’s Office launched an investigation last March into the Navy’s prevention and handling of suicides and suicide attempts by its personnel but has not released the outcome of that review.
The move followed at least nine tragic deaths by suicide aboard the carrier George Washington while the ship was undergoing maintenance at Newport News Shipbuilding. The carrier Theodore Roosevelt also had three suicide deaths while it was in a shipyard in Washington state.
Investigations into the deaths found that the service was not effectively implementing suicide prevention and that it needed to improve living conditions and quality of life for sailors.
Data from Navy surveys found that, in 2023, junior enlisted sailors — those in the ranks of E-1 through E-6 — reported the highest levels of stress in the service, with 40% saying they faced severe or extreme stress levels, up from 29% in 2019.
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