Killer Cases: The Gruesome Betrayal of Army Sergeant Tyrone Hassel III

call came in just after 11 o'clock 9-1-1 I need help my husband was shot his wife was there Kamaya Hassell was there kneeling down next to Sergeant Hassell hugging him covered in blood crying very upset he said he's at the hospital right now and Tyrone everybody's up there I'm gonna be honest it does not look good oh no he was the pride of his family he shot up the ranks and made Sergeant an incredibly young age you wait and wait and wait for that time for that boy to grow up and become a man and become your friend as well as your son and it was all taken away from the evidence will clearly establish that Jeremy Cuellar is a full-blown cycleman I could tell by the way you look man you want me to burn in the house sir and I understand that this guy got into you he got into your head you guys are working together he's playing you that gun was never in her hand but her fingerprints are all over this murder so yes is the answer to the question you are also being a manipulator in this situation correct I guess that's a fair statement yes and without those statements the prosecution has no case against Kamaya Hassell your wife this is what he's going to tell you how to get out of that situation and I grabbed the gun trying to find the first place to put a body no sir the only thing they could do was kill him you want to say anything we the jury to find the defendant thank you it's New Year's Eve the call came in just after 11 o'clock 9-1-1 hello hello yes foreign and at that point it's a massive response by police agencies from all over the area responding to that call the victim was a 23 year old U.S army Sergeant Tyrone Hassell III shot while on holiday leave to visit his family in Benton Harbor his distraught wife Kamaya called 9-1-1 okay when the officers got there Sergeant Hassell was laying on the ground slopped up against his truck obvious gunshot wounds to his head and neck area gunshot wound to the shoulder area his wife was there Kamaya Hassel was there kneeling down next to Sergeant Hassell hugging him covered in blood crying very upset way back up back up do you have any idea what happened here no he just brought us something to eat okay look who's sitting on the couch eating and then I just heard gunshots [Music] he was laying on the car okay how many gunshots did you hear I don't know I just heard a lot do you have any idea how this happened I'm not sure I mean this is serious okay I don't know what his condition is but it does not look good okay so if you know something I don't think he was beefing with anybody that was about the time then Sergeant hassel's father Tyrone Jr arrived on the scene with her I don't know what I saw I seen my son on the on the gurney I can see the hole in the front and the back of his head I was just hoping that some way somehow they would can save his life but I knew he was dead because I was looking in his eyes and it was no motion he said he's at the hospital right now and Tyrone everybody's up there um I'm gonna be honest it does not look good oh no at first the police were just trying to really you know contain the scene preserve all the evidence and try to figure out what's going on a couple options that they originally thought could have been a robbery I thought that somebody may have tried to take his truck he had a nice truck he wore a nice jury uh people knew he was in the military and Ben Harbor is kind of a very low income City and I thought somebody was just trying to get an easy come up there's evidence on his body this may be a robbery dude we need to know if he had money we didn't know if he'll go to the hospital but after some you know real quick digging into it that didn't seem to be the case because Sergeant Hassell still had his wallet with him with money his phone was with him keys to his truck were right there so nothing appeared to be been stolen his entire life so whatever happened happened right here huh the bullet casings telling a story there's one one two three and number four is right there four maybe it was four uh two to the Head one in that one on the shoulder whoever shot him was either laying in weight or walk to find him because they shot him right up next to his truck right outside the door it was a point blank shot I'm sure somebody knows something the next route the police were looking into was possible mistaken identity maybe they thought the the victim Sergeant hassle was somebody else uh when the shooting took place and police should learn from his friends and family that the Sergeant's younger half-brother Benny had been running with a bad crowd more than likely that was probably Benny was probably the target he just happened to step on it around that time and if I had to guess that's what my theory on this whole thing is Sergeant Tyrone Hassel III was pronounced dead on New Year's Day a cruel ending for the life of a young man who had worked so hard to make it out and in the city of Bernard there's trouble everywhere you go trouble will find you he stayed out of trouble because he stayed so busy he ran track played baseball got good grades and had lots of friends Sergeant Hassel everybody just described him as a guy that makes you a better person got an academic scholarship to go to Grand Valley State University he was doing what he needed to do to better his life while he was at Grand Valley he decided he wanted to serve the country and he enlisted in the Army and immediately when he was in the Army he shot up the ranks and made Sergeant an incredibly young age I talked to some of the people in Army CID and they said yeah you don't make Sergeant as fast as he did it was a good fit especially after falling in love with another Soldier Kamaya I thought she was great I mean I loved her like a daughter and then the young couple was deployed to Korea serving in separate units living in different Barracks standard policy for the U.S army it seemed a happy marriage that got even better with the arrival of a son Tyron IV nicknamed chunk just loved his family he loved kamiyah treated her like a queen all he wanted to do was serve in the Army and take care of his family and did the best he could at it home for the holidays he told his father how happy he was happy with the Army happy with his family and always happy to know he would soon be having some of his father's home cooking he was dancing thinking about that deep fried turkey and macaroni and cheese and dressing but I thought he was going to be a very successful young man a very successful father and family member I mean he did things that at that age that it took me years and years and years to do he was the pride of his family and really just the pride of his friends in the community around here just a great great man but the murder investigation was about to reveal that not everything was happy in Tyrone hassel's life [Music] family wants to find the person responsible for a New Year's Eve shooting that left a 23 year old active military member dead you don't know why this would happen to him so we really really want to know why as detectives returned to the scene in daylight looking for more clues there was still no answer to that question of why Tyrone hassel's son was murdered we're still working it we don't have much right now police showed the heartbroken father surveillance photos of possible suspects pursuing the mistaken identity theory that the real Target had been the victim's half-brother Benny I've talked to Benny man Benny's got something he's holding back hey well how are you Henry's ever or he is ever down the block a neighbor came forward to report a suspicious man parking his car just before the shooting because he was here what two three days ago in partner the same way yes there are a lot of tips coming into the police on this case and they followed up every single one and they did that for about 10 days tip after tip coming in they just kept following up on them but after talking with dozens of friends and family members all right all right good luck man thanks and even the half-brother Benny nothing panned out and the mistaken identity theory was dismissed but I always kept saying man it's this ain't right this is personal and when they said that they probably thought it was a case of mistaken identity I said no because whoever did that seen his face and then the family's public pleas for help paid off there was an anonymous call that came into the Saint Joe Township Police Department why you think this happened the way you do I'll help you with that and it was a woman calling saying you need to take a look at people within his own Battalion and platoon who may be responsible for this so they were in they were all in Korea uh that's where it started claiming Sergeant hessel's wife Kamaya was having an affair with another Soldier he had the girl hata relationship going on and that the guy that said had said something to him so they had words and then he had tripped them and what I think I heard you understand is this relationship started in Korea and there was a words exchanged or a confrontation between the husband Tyrone and the killer there right I don't know if it's there right here the only thing is that the Federalists tomorrow you guys should look at the wife [Music] so now the investigation quickly shifted to Fort Stewart Georgia where Tyrone and kamiya were based a place that held some dark secrets there were two Army Specialists that came forward in Fort Stewart to their criminal investigation divisions and began to give a statement about what took place one of them revealing that Sergeant Hassel had learned his wife Kamaya was indeed having an affair with another Soldier you said Hassel didn't know no there was something going on between the two of us yeah my husband called her okay the other Soldier allegedly having the affair with the victim's wife was identified as specialist Jeremy Cuellar known as Quay would Quay say about uh with her while he was on leave anything like that he just can't wait to get back to the States so you can divorce from his wife and then another Soldier revealed he had sowed quite Lara a Glock pistol just two weeks before the murder put it back together it was more than enough for Armory investigators at Fort Stewart to place Jeremy Cuellar under arrest and um now we brought you down here um for a reason okay um have they told you or informed you or anything about why you were picked up last night okay but Cuellar cut off any questions after being advised of his rights and at this point in time do you wish to have a lawyer but he apparently had already talked plenty with another soldier in his platoon and he said I did what I had to do I went up there and I took care of it he talked about the number of shots he fired what gun he had how it came about in the driveway of Sergeant hassel's family so the next question was what about Sergeant hassel's wife Kamaya she had already been at the police station days earlier in tears offering to help find her husband's killer but she made no mention of the affair or her lover Jeremy did she know what he had done what happened they contacted Sergeant hassel's father Tyrone Hassel II and said we need to talk to you can you bring kamiyah down with you to the station so when I walked up to her I said hey we got to go to the sheriff department she was like okay come on and we walked in we walked in he was like Kamaya you go right here Mr household you have a seat right here and they took her behind a secured door came right back to me and he said um Mr house to go home it's going to be a long night I kind of like slowly walked away like what the heck just happened Kamaya was indeed in for a long night about to be questioned by state police detective first lieutenant Andrew lungusky we didn't know if we had a boyfriend who was maybe obsessed with her a little bit and acted on his own because he was saying that he had committed the homicide or if she was actually involved the detective began with questions about the affair with Jeremy what was going on dude he just started working me with it did it start in Korea is that where everything started going because there's no doubt about it this whole relationship is gone we weren't sexual or anything but we were really close but you are now you guys were surprised sexual somewhere throughout all that she has to be to have this kind of for me to get this hold on you he's here to break you sexually to you I'm guessing first not even not even just sexually it's just I just was feeling so bad like the top like nothing me not wanting to be with him but just just how I was being treated I was just feeling so bad and it's just like he was just there like listening and everything like you listen like he he listened to me and not not so like when Todd it was time where he couldn't do it he wouldn't listen to me and she was very well spoken she seemed to be very believable as far as she was sad that her husband was gone um told me that she wouldn't want to marry again because nobody treat her as good as her husband did and she denied knowing anything about the murder to detective longusky who had been chosen for this questioning because he was also the chief of the polygraph unit for the State Police an expert with the lie detector test which she then agreed to take I think she wanted to prove that she wasn't involved back at the Hassel home her husband's family had no idea what was happening why it was taking so long well past midnight fun I'm like this is exhausting I got to get up in a few hours to go bury my son and nobody's telling me anything and his wife is over at the sheriff's department I'm concerned about why they have her over there but I'm still not convinced that she had anything to do with it because like I said I loved her like my daughter and I was worried he would know what was going on in just a few hours [Music] [Applause] [Music] on the surface she looks like a nice young lady you know a military person but the lie detector showed kamiya Hassell was deceptive was not telling the truth about her role in the murder of her husband Sergeant Tyrone Hassell once I went back in the room to actually confront her it's probably within a half an hour that she's kind of changed her story 180 degrees and he coached her along with words of sympathy and understanding and a false claim that Jeremy was blaming her you are not the one pulling trigger you need to yell from this for your son because you have a future and I'm telling you when they come and talk to me I want to be able to say I give her a test would she be involved with somebody she saw it as this occurred without a doubt you are but don't let him put you underneath the bus because that's where it's going right now because this isn't something you planned this guy got into you he got into your head you guys are working together he's playing you and I don't mean it in a bad way we all get played we've all been in that situation because she relatively quickly started to expose not only her you know conspiracy to do this but also she was kind of a major player as far as making it happen that night so um really tampon exactly what it was in the inside I had this big argument and then you know I came back and took the building I was talking to Jeremy I'm like yeah I don't want to do them anymore like things like I can handle that and I was like you know what do you mean by that you just like I can't handle it when I get that guy I get to go about the Box it turns out that Jeremy Cuellar had come to Benton Harbor several nights before driving in from Chicago He staked out Sergeant Hassell at a local nightclub but there were too many people around to pull it off you hear me getting coffee I don't think he was getting cold feet because um every time that he would come out it wasn't able to do it it was something and on New Year's Eve Kamaya was sending Jeremy text and Snapchat messages about her husband's whereabouts he was he was out there and he was watching the house the whole house and that's when it happened Kamaya that night playing the role of the distraught grieving wife what's that you say this is a 50 you guys right on this because I know all about it and I like I said I probably could have stopped it but the reason I didn't because I felt like you would you know be mad at me or not love you anymore yeah because I just felt like I wasn't getting that love that holding like I wanted to but to Texas believed there was another important reason Sergeant hassel's military life insurance policy that would have paid her four hundred thousand dollars but main reason being is because I just felt like if I would have called it off like Jeremy probably would have like been upset at the fact that I caught it off and I I didn't want him like mad at me okay but you understand though calling it off would have saved your husband's life instead of divorce them was tired bad man not bad enough for this and honestly that's just like my horse that's really how I feel I believe you do I don't believe you do it today but you know you put your needs and your wants about somebody's life four thousand dollars now we're tired you felt it wasn't before would you say that's the first event [Music] the night of the murder and for more than a week afterwards Kamaya Hansel had denied knowing anything about what happened now ten days later at three in the morning detective longhussy had achieved a full-throated confession so as far as not are you sad that you you plan this out with him yeah um that's why even though I wasn't being 100 True from the beginning when you say he you weren't 100 true that's a that's a kind of a major 100 you were because 25 would you say that I mean that's that's huge I mean I almost think with these guys but that's why I was when I kept saying that if what I know now if I could I would go back and not do it I wouldn't even talk to Jeremy at all knowing that everything would have gone like this but Jeremy's gonna go and you called him back you know what I'm saying and I get why you called her back I mean doing now what do you what do you think should happen to you right now I don't know because myself I feel just as guilty as hell [Music] detectives came to the hassle home to break the news in person he said we we solved his son's case I was like who was it he said it was Kamaya and my family just went through an outrage and I was still I think I was still in denial I didn't I didn't want to believe it I couldn't believe it it was like in no way no way possible but then when he told me that it was her lover that did it I was like completely blown away Kamaya Hassell and her lover Jeremy Cuellar were both charged with first degree murder in the death of Sergeant Tyrone Hassel I live with this person for 11 days after my son was killed my entire family comforted this person we took her in like one of our own she was the person that you know that was behind my son's murder do you have any idea what happened here no he just brought us something to eat angry wasn't even the word I would have killed her instead he would be the first witness against kamiya Hessel when she went on trial for murder we are in the case of Michigan versus Kamaya Hassell who was charged with plotting with her lover to kill her husband Tyrone hassle the third prosecutors decided to put Kamaya on trial first her lover Jeremy's trial would follow I thought we had the stronger case against her with the statements made to the detective but there was concern about the Optics she was a very sympathetic defendant in her appearances she looked incredibly young she dressed for court did her hair in a way that made her look almost like a teenager [Music] killing is seated right there the defendant you'll find she had murder on her mind betrayal in her heart ladies and gentlemen we're here today defendant Kamaya Hassell wasn't happy with her life and with her husband and she devised a plan with her lover Jeremy Cuellar to have a murdered in the end you'll see from the evidence it was all about her and what she wanted it was kind of a case where you put everything out there right away from opening statement and really just keep the foot on the gas the whole time and not let up the evidence is never going to put the gun in her hand it was Jeremy Cuellar that pulled that trigger but it was at her Direction that gun was never in her hand but her fingerprints are all over this murder Kamaya hassel's lawyer Chris Kessel sought to portray his client as a victim too of a crazed lover and unfair police tactics in gaining her confession ladies and gentlemen there is no question that Sergeant hassel's death is not just sad but is a tragic convicting someone who's not responsible of murder that is a tragedy too Jeremy Cuellar is directly no question about it responsible for Tyrone hassel's death I think the evidence will clearly establish that Jeremy Cuellar is a full-blown psychopath but it was kamiya hassell's videotaped confession to detective longusky myself I feel just as guilty as hell that was the biggest challenge for her defense lawyer after first trying to keep it from the jury they did their best to try and prevent it but it's admissible evidence so there wasn't much that he could really do to prevent that from coming in so Kamaya hassel's lawyer told the jury he would prove the detective manipulated her and wore her down to get a false confession in the middle of the night it's only then after she's been poked and prodded now literally but it's only at that point after hours and hours of denying the Kamaya Hassel makes this thing and that's important ladies and gentlemen because the essence of this case is that statement thank you ladies and gentlemen thank you the prosecution began by taking the jury back to the crime scene that New Year's Eve as seen Through The Eyes of its first Witness [Music] Mr Hassell son murdered at your home in the driveway New Year's Eve 2018. yes it was the first time he had seen his daughter-in-law Kamaya since the day she was arrested she never made eye contact with me never not once I actually looked at me and yeah uh so I was just thinking I don't know she was heartless for him time had Stood Still since that night when I arrived it was the paramedics was already there and when they lift them up I saw my son back of his head blow it up and his eyes were open I looked at him see where all he was shot at and I saw a hole right here [Music] judge I have no questions foreign [Music] probably the best evidence to come forward is really detective lingusky with his confession and so we're going to play that video but essentially can you tell the jury the basics of what she told you sir she told me that she did plan it with Jeremy and that they had tried on several occasions to make it happen we admitted the confession essentially just played a 45 minute straight through video of her giving all the details she never once told you she said no don't do that did she no she did not and then in writing Kamaya initially the key statement that's the first question I asked was did you plan with Jeremy to kill Tyrone her statement was she asked so I put it in quotes then we came back later and we ever initial it and then I asked her how I treated her and I had to write a 10 out to the side one to ten I know I treated her and then we both signed and dated at the bottom nothing additional thank you sir now the moment defense lawyer Chris Kessel had been waiting for as he tried to show his client had been tricked by the detective with this false statement don't let him put you under the bus because that's where it's going right now because this isn't something you planned you said you got to get out in front of it because Jeremy is going to throw you under the bus do you remember saying that I believe I did yes you actually said that Jeremy was in custody at one point and then he was talking do you remember saying that yes I did you have no idea if he was making any statements about her yes I have no idea Jeremy in fact never made a statement refused to answer any questions and at this point in time do you wish to have a lawyer and had never implicated Kamaya you said Jeremy was a manipulator correct I mean that was a theme that I used yes and you said it repeatedly is that right yes it is but it's fair to say that you're doing your own version of manipulating during this interview too is that right well I'm trying to make her feel comfortable and give her an option or a way to explain something that she may have been involved in yes so yes is the answer to the question you were also being a manipulator in this in this situation correct I guess that's a fair statement yes but the prosecution had another card to play to show the confession had not been the result of the detective's tricks or manipulation hello this is a call from an inmate at the Berrien County Jail a phone call Kamaya made to her mother right after she was arrested the prosecution's last piece of evidence you what I knew what was happening are you serious the father of your child are you talking about I'd be disappointed no I'm disappointed in this come on here if somebody calls me you to say this stuff because that is like a TV show a dream Melody not mine I can't hear you no they're not but but did y'all think I was gonna win today the prosecution rested and all that remained for the defense was to decide whether Kamaya Hassel would testify [Music] members of the Hassel family had packed the courtroom waiting now to hear if kabaya would take the stand and try to explain herself first thing I would want to know is why I didn't see any anger within their marriage but I didn't even see any problems I would just want to know why after everything that we've been through all together why would you do that to my family Miss Hassle is it your decision today to testify or do you wish to remain silent okay and basically to this day she still hasn't show any remorse with that lady aiding and abetting she's just as responsible as Jeremy Ware she needs to be held accountable same as Jeremy cueller because she is just as responsible she assisted in this crime she gave Aid she gave counsel she procured it she embedded to encourage it all the evidence shows that and she conspired with him to do it and then prosecutor Steve parangeli again played the key parts of kamaya's interrogation tape her confession myself I feel just as guilty as hell what else shows that this was planned out ahead of time her own statements to her mother [Music] she was not giving a false confession to her mother when she said we planned it after that point I don't think there was very much else the jury needed hold her accountable agree with her that she is just as guilty as Jeremy thank you for the defense the task was to somehow undercut the power of the interrogation with Detective longuski he is by far the best that I've ever seen no question about it he is as skilled an interviewer as I have ever seen and that is the whole case ladies and gentlemen the whole issue is do you believe that Kamaya Hassel made those statements because she had been manipulated by a pro she had been denying all of this stuff for days weeks hours and it was only after detective longusky went to work that she changed her story the statement that she made implicating herself was the result of a long stay in police custody followed by repeated denials followed by manipulation again detective longuski's agreed upon word and without those statements the prosecution has no case against Kamaya Hassel and I hope you return a fair and just verdict in this case thank you thank you [Music] the jury returned with its verdict first thing the next morning [Music] and the record will reflect that the jury is back appropriately seated in the jury box ladies and gentlemen I'm going to ask if he would open that envelope for us please thank you I'm going to ask her if you would please read in count one or verdict guilty of first degree premeditated murder as hater or better thank you and as to count two guilty of conspiracy to commit first degree premeditated murder thank you she was very stoic emotionless real no reaction from her even as she realized what was ahead life without parole is the mandatory sentence for first degree murder foreign [Music] but the case was far from over prosecutors knew there would be no justice without a conviction for Jeremy Cuellar accused of actually pulling the trigger so Jeremy's case was set another month down the road and we are ready to go with that case again I felt the evidence was very strong including the testimony of his fellow soldiers about buying a gun just before the murder how his phone tracked his travels on the interstate to Benton Harbor and that a new piece of police equipment actually spotted his car's license plate and it was picked up the night of the murder just a couple hours before the murder which put him in the area around the time of the murder which was very important plus a judge ruled that kamaya's own statements about her one-time lover could be used against him his lawyer asked for a plea deal believe that he deserved to spend the rest of his life in prison and we came to a term of years of 65. he agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder so he'll be eligible for parole when he's 90 years old after Mr Cuellar pled guilty he was walking out of the courtroom he looked back to Tyrone Hassell II Sergeant has his father and said some words about I need to talk to you a few days later Tyrone Hassel agreed to meet with the man who killed his son how you doing sir I'm all right um you know under circumstances and I just wanted to know what was going on um in his head if you got something that you want to say I'm I'm that's what I came in to listen to I mean we do have an hour I might as well just tell you how everything went I mean are you okay are you comfortable with that I'm okay with it no it definitely wasn't easy yeah I mean he he told me way more than what I wanted to hear crane art blamed it all on kamiyah and her plan to get her husband's four hundred thousand dollars in life insurance money man she want she wanted me to do it man like I go like I wanted her you know what I'm saying and she man she she knew what she was doing she wanted the money so I don't know what she that's crazy that's crazy honestly I was blind like I was blinded you know I I thought that was love you know what I'm saying and what about kamaya's tears when she saw her husband shot dead in the driveway I was just wondering if she talked to you about that afterwards yeah she did matter of fact she did she was like yeah like you know he died in my arms and she was saying she was sad about it and I'm like why'd you have me do it then like you know what I'm saying but she was just like you know it's cool like when she knew what she was doing man she a good actor Man actor she know what she was doing and I was too stupid to see it you know what I'm saying honestly the father struggled to hold his emotions in check I mean you murdered my son and then you like you you actually touched my grandson I could tell by the way you look man you want me to burn in the house sir and I understand that I understand that you know what I'm saying I really hope you can forgive me I'm gonna say I know it's gonna take forever or you might not but I really hope you can true enough you killed my son but I don't think I I know I'm looking at somebody that had a twisted mind at one point you know you seemed like a good cat and um I hate the situation had to happen especially I either had to happen to my son I'm never gonna the only thing I could do is visit him in the grave after about 50 minutes the father's meeting with his son's killer was over Tyrone has a warning Cuellar about what was to come for him well man I appreciate you talking I appreciate your remorse you know what I mean but I don't know how much um how much you know about me or how much you know about my son but um you're gonna meet a lot of friends in there bro it's we if they from Ben Harbor 90 of them know us and um we very popular I don't know if Tamiya told you about you know about us or whatever but you got to meet a lot of friends how should I take that I mean I'm just I'm just telling you he's gonna have a heart in prison he got sentenced to 65 years you're gonna do 365 days for 65 years it was Justice because I don't think he'll make it out it's still in me like it was yesterday I'm far from over but I'm working on myself you wait and wait and wait for that time for that boy to grow up and become a man and become your friend as well as your son and that was my friend you know I waited so long for that day and it was all taken away from me I had just got what I waited for for so long [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: Law&Crime Network

Views: 2,520,066

Keywords: law and crime, law and crime network

Id: oGA3na5Fjrk

Length: 42min 43sec (2563 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 17 2023