Army Wife, 22-year-old Kemia Hassel, was sentenced to life in prison without parole on August 29, 2019 for her role in the death of her husband Sgt. Tyrone Hassel III. The couple, as well as Tyrone’s killer, were Army soldiers stationed at Fort Stewart in Georgia.
Officer Jaramee Peppers responded to a report of a shooting on Colfax Ave in St. Joseph Township, in Benton Harbor, Michigan, around 11 p.m. on New Year’s Eve 2018. When Peppers arrived he found Tyrone Hassel III suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Tyrone was shot in the head, neck, and torso.
Tyrone was transported to Spectrum Lakeland Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
During the course of the investigation, an anonymous tip was given to Officer Eric Wolff of the St. Joseph Police Department. The tip urged investigators to scrutinize the victim’s wife, claiming she was having an extra-marital relationship with another soldier in her army platoon.
Meanwhile, Fort Stewart Criminal Investigators were interviewing friends of murder suspect and Fort Stewart soldier, Jeremy Cuellar. One of the friends, also an active duty soldier, told CID that Cuellar and Kemia had begun a romantic affair while they were serving at Camp Casey in South Korea during the 3rd Infantry Division, 1st Combat Brigade deployment last year. The CID agent reported the information to authorities in St. Joseph Township Police Department, that Cuellar had confessed to the soldier friend that he had killed Tyrone. The report also said that after Cuellar had shot Tyrone in the head, Cuellar observed that Hassel was still breathing and shot Hassel again to confirm the kill.
Cuellar told another soldier that he and Kemia wanted to be together and were planning to murder Tyrone while he was on leave. Cuellar told the soldier that he was going to shoot Tyrone or hire someone else to do it. When this soldier heard of the death of Tyrone he went to CID and told agents when he heard the news he believed Cuellar was either behind the murder or had planned the crime.
Armed with the leads they had received, St. Joseph Township Police Detectives brought Kemia in for questioning and asked her if she would consent to a polygraph. A report stated Kemia was not being truthful concerning Tyrone’s death.
In order to avoid being traced, they started to communicate through Snapchat, because they wrongly believed the app’s temporary messages would be undetectable by police. For months they sent messages to each other about how they were going to murder unsuspecting Tyrone.
During the police interview Kemia Hassel allegedly said Cuellar had made four different trips to Michigan, while she and Tyrone were there visiting from December 19 -31, until the day of the shooting. Kemia and Cuellar had met on each occasion to plot the murder.
Kemia told investigators that on New Year’s Eve, her husband went to a local Walmart to purchase ammunition to use in celebration at midnight. While Tyrone was purchasing the ammunition, Kemia thought Cuellar was outside the residence and was going to kill her husband at that time. When the murder didn’t then occur, Kemia asked Cuellar why he didn’t commit the crime. Cuellar responded that he had someone with him and didn’t want to commit the murder at that time. Kemia told investigators that Cuellar didn’t seem to want to carry out the murder. She demanded Cuellar kill her husband that night because she and Tyrone were planning to leave Michigan to return to Georgia on January 2, 2019, and she didn’t want to return with her husband.
Later that night, Tyrone had attended a nearby family gathering. When he called Kemia, she allegedly asked him to bring a plate of food for her and their 1-year old son Tyrone Hassel IV. While Tyrone was on his way with the food, Kemia contacted Cuellar to tell him her husband was heading back to the house. Cuellar returned to the residence and killed Tyrone in the driveway of his father’s home. Kemia told authorities she did not go outside immediately after hearing the gunshots and did not see Cuellar during the time he was there.
Once investigators found out about her affair, they started to look closer. It was discovered Kemia had made a number of internet searches after the killing.
One was ‘how to delete Snapchat’. Another was ‘active duty soldier killed on New Year’s Eve’. Kemia also looked up ‘what do I do after my house is paid off’.
Cuellar’s 2018 Chevrolet Impala was recorded on a patrol unit’s license plate reader in Benton Harbor three hours before the shooting.
Maj. David Edwards with the Liberty County Sheriff’s Officer said Cuellar was arrested without incident at about 10 p.m. January 11, 2019 at his home on Robin Hood Drive in Hinesville.
Tyrone’s father, Tyrone Hassel Jr., was visiting the local area. The elder Hassel said Kemia never gave any indication there was trouble in the marriage with his son. He said his daughter-in-law appeared to have been grief stricken following the murder. Tyrone Hassel Jr. said he now wonders if she was crying because of guilt. Kemia did not attend her husband’s funeral. Tyrone Hassel Jr. said, when he was home in Michigan, he was asked to bring Kemia to the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office on January 11, where she was arrested and charged with the murder of his son.
Jeremy Cuellar was sentenced to a 65-year minimum to 90-year maximum prison sentence. He’ll be 90 years old before he is eligible for parole.
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