[ominous music] Just after 11:00
PM on New Year's Eve, we received a 911 call
from a female subject. She was screaming
into the phone, talking about her
husband being shot. And then all of a sudden,
the phone went dead. [sirens blaring] When I arrived on scene
there, medical and ambulance was backing up in the driveway. As I exited my patrol
car and approached, where I saw the victim
laying by his truck along with a female subject
knelt down beside him. Let me get in there, ma'am, OK? She was pretty hysterical. I actually had to pull
the female away from him so medics could actually
get in to treat him. NARRATOR: Officers
learned that the gunshot victim is 23-year-old Army
Sergeant Tyrone Hassel III. The woman is his wife, Kemia. I got a call from Kemia. I can barely understand
what she was saying. But she was screaming. And then she was
like, Ty's been shot. And I'm like, what? As I was driving home, the
only thing I was thinking is, I just hope he'll be OK. When I got there, I could
see where he was shot at. And I could see a big hole
in the back of his head. I knew at that point
when I saw my son. I prayed for the
best, but I knew. I knew my son was dead. NARRATOR: At the
hospital, Sergeant Hassel's stepmother is on
duty when the ambulance pulls up to the ER. I see the paramedics
come through the doors. One of the paramedics
was on top of him doing chest compressions. To me, it seemed a long time. But it probably was
a couple of minutes before the doctor came out
and told me it was nothing else that they could do. NARRATOR: Detectives start
their homicide investigation at the scene of the crime. We found spent gun
shells laying on the ground right next to our
Tyrone was laying. The shell casings were examined. And we determined it was
from a 9-millimeter handgun. Based on what we
found on Tyrone III, we saw that he had
all of his money. He had an expensive watch on. So if robbery isn't the
motive, then usually it's some kind of personal vendetta. The police was asking me,
did he have any enemies? I couldn't think of a
soul, not one person. NARRATOR: While in
the Army, Tyrone fell for a fellow
recruit named Kemia. We could tell
that he really cared about her because
all he talked about was Kemia this, Kemia that. When I finally met
Kemia, they were married, and they came home
for Thanksgiving. She called me dad immediately. She was my new daughter. Tyrone called me one day. And he just was like, you're
about to be a grandma. And I was excited. TYRONE HASSEL JR:
My son was so happy. Then a week after their
son's first birthday, Ty and Kemia was deployed to
Korea in February of 2018. NARRATOR: After nine
months in South Korea, the young family returns and
settles into their new life in Hinesville, Georgia. The following day,
investigators continued their work at the crime scene. One neighbor
indicated that they had seen a vehicle
backed into a residence that was actually for sale. He reported that
the house was vacant. He described the car as
being in that driveway and seeing somebody run from
that car in the direction of Hassel's house. It looked like a male subject. The neighbor advised that
after he's seen the subject run towards the house,
he heard the gunshots, saw him get in the car. And that's when he saw the
car speed away rapidly. The witness described the car
as a newer, dark-color sedan. He described the
headlights of being special headlights,
which were LED headlights on that type of a car. An autopsy on Tyrone determined
that he had been shot five times, four
in the head area and one in the shoulder,
all at close range, within three to five feet. It wasn't, you know,
a drive-by shooting. Whoever did this wanted
Tyrone to see who did it. During this investigation,
police left no stone unturned. But then St. Joe
Police get a tip that completely opens up this case. This caller says that police
should look into the wife because the wife
had a boyfriend. And because of
that relationship, Sergeant Hassel was killed. NARRATOR: The
anonymous caller says their son served with
both Tyrone and Kemia and lives in the
same town in Georgia where the Hassels are stationed. Two soldiers actually
came forward at Fort Stewart to the Army Criminal
Investigation Division. MIKE LANIER: We were informed
that Kemia had been having a romantic relationship
with another soldier in their unit, Jeremy Cuellar. The relationship was witnessed
by a soldier who basically was a bunkmate of Jeremy
Cuellar and spoke of the-- you know, the
infatuation he had with Kemia. INVESTIGATOR: OK. NARRATOR: According
to the soldier, the relationship began when
Tyrone, Kemia, and Jeremy were stationed in South Korea. So when they got back
to the States from Korea, Kemia and Jeremy continued
to have a lot of contact. And they did it
through Snapchat. The soldier says
they're communicating over Snapchat because Snapchat
basically deletes everything. You don't have any record
of the conversation. He said Jeremy was obsessed
with her, that he would have done anything to be
with Kemia, up to and including killing for it. NARRATOR: Later that
day, Army investigators receive even more
disturbing information about Jeremy Cuellar. Another soldier
from the same base came forward and indicated
that he had actually sold Jeremy two different handguns. OK. One of the handguns was a
Glock 9 millimeter, I believe. And the other one was
a Ruger 9 millimeter. That was significant
because the caliber of the weapon used
to kill Tyrone III was a 9-millimeter weapon. NARRATOR: The soldier
also tells investigators that Jeremy shared a
disturbing story of what he did on his Christmas break. Jeremy gave him a play by play
of what he's been doing over vacation, including staying
at his mom's house in Chicago, driving to Benton Harbor,
where Kemia's in-law lived, staking the house out
for three or four days. He said he was there waiting
for Tyrone to get home. And when he walked
back out of the house is when he killed
him in his driveway. Jeremy Cuellar went
on to tell this soldier that I shot him multiple times. I walked up to him and walked
over him and shot him again. So he really laid out the
crime, how he committed it, and just the gruesome,
awful details about how he executed Sergeant Hassel. NARRATOR: On January 11, at
10:00 PM, deputies in Georgia convene at Jeremy Cuellar's
home to execute a search warrant and take him into custody. While searching his
car in the back seat, they find a
9-millimeter magazine that fits into a Ruger pistol. Looking through
the bullets, it was the same brand of
ammunition that was used the night of the murder. NARRATOR: 11 days after Tyrone
was killed, police in Georgia charged Jeremy Cuellar
with first-degree murder. We were certain that
Jeremy committed the murder. The outstanding question was,
what was Kemia's role in that? Was she the mastermind or
an innocent victim here? NARRATOR: Kemia admits that on
the days leading up to Tyrone's murder, she and Jeremy
had communicated via Snapchat about their plans. Kemia admitted to
Detective Lieutenant Longuski that she and Jeremy had both
taken part in planning this. NARRATOR: To investigators,
Kemia's confession is proof that she was
a willing accomplice in her husband's murder. We did discover that as part
of their military insurance, when there is a
death of a spouse, that she does get a
settlement from the insurance company of about $400,000. I brought up the money. And she admitted
that was part of it and that money would
help her and her son get a better start with Jeremy. NARRATOR: As the prosecution
prepares for Kemia's trial, they discover a surprise
piece of evidence. After the arrests
were made, I'd actually obtained audio
recording of Kemia Hassel speaking to her mother. And the entirety of the phone
call was another confession. I knew we had strong
evidence prior to that. But when I heard that, this case
was going to trial full steam ahead. There's not going to be
any deals for you, Kemia. NARRATOR: Six months
after her arrest, the trial of Kemia
Hassel begins. Over three days, the
prosecution calls 23 witnesses to the stand. We really focused
on Kemia's confession to Detective Longuski. We focused on the
evidence that was found in her cell phone and
that second confession she made to her mom. So those were three
really important pieces. When the jury
went to deliberate, everybody's nervous. NARRATOR: Less than two
hours later, the jury returns with a verdict. They find Kemia's guilty
on all three counts, first-degree
premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and
using a gun to commit a crime. Kemia was sentenced
to spend the rest of her natural life in prison
with no opportunity for parole. On July 29 of 2019,
Jeremy Cuellar pled guilty to second-degree
murder for 65 years in prison.
