Military prosecutors have dropped all charges against a Marine accused of killing twenty-four unarmed Iraqis, including women and children in Haditha in 2005. Lance Cpl Stephen Tatum became the fifth Haditha defendant out of eight to see charges dropped in a case that brought international condemnation on US troops in Iraq. Tatum initially faced charges of unpremeditated murder and negligent homicide. One Marine testified that Tatum told him to shoot a group of Iraqi women and children he found on a bed in a closed room. That Marine said he walked away but saw Tatum return and heard a loud noise, possibly gunfire or a grenade.