( CNN ) -- Three Marines face court martial proceedings involving the alleged hazing of a Marine who committed suicide in Afghanistan in April . The case drew national attention when Rep. Judy Chu of California , the aunt of the Marine who killed himself , told a congressional committee about it in September . A Marine statement sent to CNN Thursday said the commanding general of the 3rd Marine Division , Brig . Gen. Frederick Padilla , had referred charges in the case against Sgt . Benjamin E. Johns , Lance Cpl . Jacob D. Jacoby , and Lance Cpl . Carlos Orozco III to a general court martial . The three allegedly berated and assaulted Lance Cpl . Harry Lew for falling asleep while on watch when he first arrived in Afghanistan , according to Chu and a Marine investigation of the incident reported by the Marine Corps Times . Lew committed suicide by shooting himself shortly thereafter . `` Harry 's death was a heartbreaking tragedy that could have been prevented , '' Chu said Thursday in statement issued by her office . `` The decision by the Marines Corps to bring the three Marines before a jury of their peers brings comfort to the family and shows the military justice system at work . '' In her September appearance at a House Armed Services Committee hearing , Chu said her nephew 's sergeant told fellow Marines in the unit to `` teach '' the 21-year-old newcomer after he was found asleep on his watch . `` Lance Corporal Lew was beaten , berated and forced to perform rigorous exercise , '' she said then . `` He was forced to do push-ups and leg lifts wearing full body armor , and sand was poured in his mouth . He was forced to dig a hole for hours . He was kicked , punched and stomped on . And it did not stop until 3:20 a.m. '' Minutes later , she said , Lew `` climbed into the foxhole that he just dug and shot himself and committed suicide . '' A military investigation report obtained by the Marine Corps Times said Lew killed himself with a two- or three-round burst from an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon in the early hours of April 3 . According to the Marine Corps Times story on the report , a message found on Lew 's arm , believed to be a suicide note , said : `` May hate me now , but in the long run this was the right choice I 'm sorry my mom deserves the truth . '' The incident at Patrol Base Gowragi , in Nawa district , began with Lew failing to respond to radio calls late on the night of April 2 , the report said . A sergeant who found him sleeping told others that `` peers should correct peers , '' it said , as reported by the Marine Corps Times . The report detailed how two lance corporals , whose names were redacted , berated Lew and ordered him to do exercises in body armor for four hours , with one of them stomping on Lew 's legs at times . One Marine kicked and punched Lew until being stopped by another , the report said . Less than an hour later , it said , Lew killed himself . `` At 0343 on 3 April 2011 , while crouching down in the fighting position he had just dug , LCpl Lew leaned over his M249 Squad Automatic Weapon as it pointed to the sky , placed the muzzle in his mouth , pulled the trigger , and intentionally killed himself , '' the report said , according to the Marine Corps Times . CNN 's Larry Shaughnessy contributed to this report .
The case involves the suicide of a Marine allegedly berated and beaten by peers . The dead Chu was the nephew of California Rep. Judy Chu of U.S. . Judy Chu spoke about her nephew 's death at a congressional hearing in Thursday .