Autopsy Shows NJ Navy SEAL Trainee Died Of Pneumonia After 'Hell Week'

MANALAPAN, NJ — A 24-year-old Navy SEAL candidate from Manalapan died of untreated pneumonia and did not have proper medical treatment until it was too late, a military autopsy said.

Kyle Mullen was also unable to stand or walk in the hours before his death and had been coughing up red-tinged fluid, the autopsy said.

Mullen, whose family still lives in Manalapan, died on Feb. 4. He and his fellow SEAL class had just finished a grueling five days of mental and physical training called "Hell Week."

"By report, this Sailor had completed Hell Week and was being looked after by non-medical personnel to help him tend to his basic needs," the autopsy says. "He was in a wheelchair most of the time, unable to stand and walk on his own. He had reportedly been coughing/spitting up red-tinged fluid which had nearly filled a 36 oz. sport drink bottle."

Related: After Her Son Died In SEAL Training, NJ Mom Says Navy 'Hung Up' On Her (from April)

His mother, Regina, shared the autopsy written by a U.S. Armed Forces Medical Examiner with local media. It was performed on February 7 at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, and signed on May 2.

His cause of death is listed as "acute pneumonia due to Streptococcus pyogenes."

Another SEAL candidate had requested medical attention for himself because he was having trouble breathing, the autopsy said. The ambulance crew arrived, and began treating Mullen when he became unresponsive.

Medical personnel at Sharp Coronado Hospital in California pronounced him dead at 5:42 p.m. after rushing him from the Naval Base San Diego.

In late April, Regina Mullen told Patch she was frustrated with the Navy's lack of answers about how and why her son died.

The autopsy report does not fully line up with what Regina Mullen told Patch.

"My son died on the floor of the barracks with no medical treatment, in the arms of a 19-year-old fellow sailor," Mullen said in April. "I actually don't want the Navy to end Hell Week. My son signed up for those rigorous drills knowing what it would be like. But there needs to be more medical oversight."

She told the Asbury Park Press she had a private autopsy done that matched what the military medical examiner concluded.

Kyle Mullen was a star football player who led Manalapan High School to its first-ever championship in 2014, his senior year, and maintained a 4.4 GPA. He also played baseball for the Manalapan Braves.

He was recruited by Yale University to captain the football team and later graduated from Monmouth University. After college, he chose to join the Navy SEALs.

"He wanted to be part of a team," Regina Mullen told Patch. "He likes teamwork where they work together for a greater good, similar to how they won that football championship. He wanted to be part of a team to do greater good in the world."

Patch editor Carly Baldwin contributed to this report.