Coty J. Phelps dies of 'of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle'

A Kingman resident was among three Fort Richardson, Alaska, soldiers killed in Iraq on Thursday.

The three paratroopers died when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Iskandariya, 25 miles south of Baghdad.

The Arizona soldier was Spc. Coty Phelps, 21, of Kingman. Phelps was a paralegal who joined the Army in September 2004 and was stationed in Alaska a year later.

Phelps "always seemed to be in a good mood and (he) was fun to talk to when he'd bring paperwork to my office or when I'd see him around post," Geoffrey S. DeWeese, a former co-worker, said in a blog he posted.

Phelps was assigned to the 725th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.

From the Arizona Republic