Mother of Navy SEAL recruit who died after completing 'hell week' demands answers about son's death

“We have failed leadership and under a command that killed a man unnecessarily."

In February 2022, 24-year-old Kyle Mullen died after successfully endured the 120-hour week of brutal training that’s designed to push Navy SEAL candidates to their physical and mental limits.

His mother, Regina Mullen, is now demanding accountability for his death.

Mullen recounted parts of her son's story on “Good Morning America” in an interview with ABC News’ Will Reeve airing on Tuesday morning.

“I got a text. It said, ‘Hell Week Secured!’” Mullen told “GMA.” “So I immediately called him and he answered and he was out of breath and he said, ‘Hey mom, I did it. Hell Week secured.’ And I said, First I'm like, ‘my God, you're all happy.’ And then I'm like, ‘wait a minute, you all right? Are you in a hospital? You don't sound good.’”

“All he said to me is, ‘Mom, I love you. Don't worry about me. And he hung up,” Mullen continued.

Kyle died hours later from bacterial pneumonia, with the final medical check showing swollen legs that required him to be sent back to his barracks in a wheelchair with abnormalities in his lungs and severe trouble breathing.

A Navy investigation cited failures “across multiple systems” that led to a number of candidates being at a “higher risk of serious injury” with “inconsistent medical monitoring.”

Additionally, a “lack of training” among commanding officers and an “at all costs” mindset among the candidates was also cited in the investigation.

“We have a failed leadership and under a command that killed a man unnecessarily and injured many,” said Regina Mullen. “I think it's pretty reasonable to ask for accountability.”

Mullen insists that Capt. Brad Geary, who was in charge of her son’s trainee class, and Cmdr. Doctor Erik Ramey are responsible.

But now, with the case being dismissed, Regina Mullen said questions still remain about the quality of her son’s medical care and that she has not yet been provided with any answers.

“The Navy's not giving me what I'm asking for,” Mullen said. “The medical treatment of Kyle's care -- why won't they provide it? I want the Board of Inquiry to be reinstated. This is what I really want so we can go public.”

A lawyer for Geary released a statement to ABC News saying “this case was badly mishandled from the beginning. When we were noticed for the board of inquiry it became very clear that a comprehensive investigation had never been done and the deciding officer hadn’t had access to all the evidence. Through the discovery process, the Navy was forced to gather all the relevant evidence which made continuing the case unsustainable.”

Ramey’s attorney told ABC News that “we invested a substantial amount of time investigating the case with the assistance of top medical experts. The overwhelming evidence confirmed that Dr. Ramey met the medical standard of care.”

The investigation also looked into allegations of the use of performance enhancing drugs among SEAL candidates. Authorities say they found a bottled labeled as human growth hormone in Mullen’s car. Investigators, however, “determined that [Mullen] died in the line of duty, and not due to own misconduct.”

Mullen says the medical examiner told her they did not test her son for steroid use. “She said that they didn’t test for it because it was irrelevant to the cause of death. Right. For the medical exam, for the Navy medical examiner.”

The Navy has refused to comment, “citing privacy considerations for the officers.”

“Cases sometimes take a long time and that can be frustrating,” Regina Mullen’s attorney, Kevin Uniglicht, told ABC News. “The problem in this case is that when we have a dismissal, we don't have a basis for it. Secondly, when we're doing our investigation and we can't find documents, we have to question, where are the documents? Was there ever treatment? If there is treatment, why didn't it follow the military's protocol on medical standards?”

“We're trying to figure out what they're hiding. It's simple as that,” Uniglicht continued.

Since her son's death, Regina Mullen says she has seen some improvement, with candidate's vitals being checked more consistently and preventative antibiotics administered prior to "hell week" so sailors don't catch pneumonia. But, she says, more work still needs to be done.

Mullen said she still lives with the pain of her son’s death every day.

“I'm deflated, I'm upset,” Mullen said. “The pain is unreal for me. I don't get the call anymore. I don't get the jokes anymore. I don't get the little cards. I don't get that anymore.”

“Before he left the Navy, I said, ‘how am I going to live my life if something happens to you?’” Mullen continued. “He said, ‘Mom, you're the strongest person I know. You got this.’”

“He was just trying to be a hero and protect people,” Mullen said. “And it happened by his own … own country, by his own military.”