A Kane'ohe-based Marine who died Sunday in Anbar province, Iraq, was caught in a surprise attack and killed instantly, his mother said during an interview yesterday with a TV reporter in Kentucky.

The Pentagon released a statement this morning that Lance Cpl. Thomas Reilly Jr., 19, of London, Ky., died while supporting combat operations. Yesterday, WKYT in Lexington, Ky., aired an interview with Gina Bray, Reilly's mother, who said her son was killed in the surprise attack.

"He was on a mission," she said during the local TV interview. "It was a hostile situation ... and they just hurt my baby ... and they took him."

Reilly was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, 3rd Marine Division, at Kane'ohe Bay.

During the WKYT report, Bray said her son went straight into the military after graduating from South Laurel High School last year and that he had been in Iraq since the summer. She said he joined the military to make others safe and was planning to attend culinary school after getting out of the military.

"He was coming home in April. He was going to surprise me," Bray said during the tearful interview. "And he didn't get to come home."

A funeral has not yet been scheduled.