Army love triangle led to killing of soldier during holiday leave, Mich. official says
An active-duty soldier visiting family during his holiday leave was shot dead while taking his wife something to eat, the Berrien County Prosecutor’s Office said, according to Michigan Live.
Army Sgt. Tyrone Hassel III, 23, was killed at about 11 p.m. New Year’s Eve in his father’s home in St. Joseph Township, Michigan, the newspaper reported.
Now, law officials believe the soldier’s wife and her boyfriend — also both active-duty soldiers — killed the sergeant and father of a 1-year-old, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Army wife Kemia Hassel, 22, and Jeremy Cuellar, 24, have both been charged with first-degree premeditated murder in the death of Tyrone Hassel III, FOX17 reported.
Court documents say the two were “having an affair and plotted to kill Tyrone,” WSBT reported.
“The motive for the two to plot Sgt. Hassel’s death may have been to continue their relationship and reap the Army’s death benefit from his murder,” Berrien County Prosecutor Michael Sepic said, according to the Free Press.
In a Jan. 1 press release posted to Facebook, the St. Joseph Township Police Department said Sgt. Hassel was “gravely injured” when responding officers found him. He had multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to a hospital, where he later died, the release states.
Police say the man was confronted by “an assailant who shot and killed him” after returning home with food, Michigan Live reported.
Officers believe the assailant was Cuellar, according to the Free Press.
“Sepic said authorities believe Kemia Hassel’s boyfriend .... traveled to Chicago several days before the killing and then waited for instructions from his girlfriend before ambushing the victim,” the newspaper reported. Chicago is about 95 miles away from where the killing took place, and the three soldiers were all stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia.
“(Kemia Hassel) deceived us all,” Tyrone Hassel Jr., the victim’s father, said, according to FOX17. “I thought she was a completely different person than who she really is.”
Kemia Hassel was arraigned Jan. 14 and was given a $2.5 million bond, Michigan Live reported. “Cuellar is in custody in Georgia and is awaiting extradition proceedings,” WSBT reported.