Transcripts For KGO 2020 20240704

Yeah, shooting, guy on the ground. I saw sergeant tyrell hassle laying on the ground next to his pickup truck with a large amount of blood with his wife grasped onto him, hysterical. Hey, back off whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa breaking right now a must military member home for the holidays has been found dead. Leaves the door, comes out on the steps, boom, hes shot right here. I could see his eyes. You knew he was gone . Yeah. Why is this happening to us . This was not a driveby. This was up close and personal. If its up close and personal like, usually means the problem is up close and personal. We obviously are struggling with some leads right now. We dont have a lot going on. Were still trying to piece it together. What in the world just happened . No one would believe the answer when they finally got it. 911, whats the address of your emergency . [ sobbing ] 911 . I need help. I need help. My husband hello . Hello. Yes. I need help. My husband my husband my husband was shot. I need help. So a 911 call came in just around 11 00 on new years eve of 2018. Kemia hassel is the one that called the 911. She is the wife of Sergeant Hassel. Okay. And tell me exactly what happened . My husband brought me some food, and he left out, and me and my son were eating, and i just heard gunshots. And i put my son in the room, and i came outside, and my husband was on the ground. Tyrone hassel iii. He was a sergeant in the army. He was back on block leave from fort stewart in georgia, visiting his family with his wife and his kid for the christmas leave. I was proud. He went through the rankings pretty fast. He made sergeant pretty quick, and a lot of people said it was kind of hard to do. The army is also where Sergeant Hassel found love. His wife, kemia, a fellow soldier. Together they have a baby boy. All three of them are here in Benton Harbor, michigan, celebrating the new year. My name is Sergeant Mike lanier with st. Joe Township Police department. December 31st, 2018, i was actually on my normal patrol duties that night. I heard a dispatch of a subject had been shot. A call to st. Joe township for a shooting. I actually broke off my traffic stop immediately and proceeded i got to go, okay . To the address on colfax. Your husbands outside . Hes on the ground. Okay. Stay on the line with me. Maam. Take a deep breath. How many shots did you hear, maam . Maam . Multiple officers have already been dispatched to the scene, including officer jaramee peppers. My partner informed us that we had an emergency call for a shooting that had just happened. Got Something Else now . Yeah, shooting, guy on the ground. You [ bleep ] kidding me . Did you see anybody around . Maam . No. Okay. No. You didnt see anyone . No. Okay. Maam . Hello . Please send somebody. Maam. Take a deep breath with me, okay . When i arrived on scene, i arrived with numerous other officers, and also an ambulance was backing into the driveway. I saw the subject, who was later identified as Sergeant Tyrone hassel, laying on the ground next to his pickup truck with a large amount of blood with his wife had grasped onto him, hysterical. I know i know. Well, let me have him. Let me get in there, maam, okay . Let us got in there, hon, okay . Okay. We obtained hours and hours of Police Body Camera footage, and every officer on the scene that night had their cameras rolling. And you can see it all unfolding in real time. It was absolute chaos at first. It is chaotic, but we have to control that chaos. Get these people back. The next thing you hear is that somethings gone wrong. Yeah, my phone rang, and it was kemia. And i couldnt really understand what she was saying. Shes like, could you come home . Come home. And im like, calm down. I cant hear you. What are you saying . And she was like, ty got shot. Where did he got shot at . Who is it . Do you know who he is . Thats my son, Tyrone Hassel iii. We were lifting gurney onto the back of the ambulance and as i step back shes going past me and trying to climb into the ambulance. Hey, back up whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. No, no, no, no. Because of that, i just focused on her and pulled her away from that situation. I think i ended up kind of this the front yard. Maam, youve got to come out here with us, okay . Just standing there talking with her. At that point, i was starting to investigate. Weve got to figure out what happened but youre going to be in the way in there, okay . I was trying to calm her down at the same time as i was getting information on what happened. She didnt have a whole lot. She knew that hed been at a party with some family and that he was bringing her some food. She had stayed home with their son at tyrone sr. s house there. Were just visiting. This is his dads house. Okay. We live in georgia. Were in the military. But she was definitely visibly upset. For me to try to calm her down and get a good statement from her on what she knew. The food was outside . He stepped outside to get the food . No, the food was in the house. He was leaving. Where were you at when this happened . In the living room with my son. We gotta collect some evidence and find out what the hells going on here. Okay . My grandson is probably in there by his self. Okay. Okay, well ill go take care of that for you if he is. Well get you hes 1. Okay, well get you in there, okay . Okay. Standing near the doorway watching the drama unfolds is the couples baby boy. Lets lets go clear this house real quick. Theres there might be might be a baby in there. Theres shell casings, guys. Just be careful. I dont know how much he watched, but during the chaos of taking care of Sergeant Hassel and all the cops, yeah, he was watching it. And when you have to go take him out of there, it was difficult. Okay, buddy. Okay, come here, buddy. I wont hurt you, okay . Ill probably never forget that. He was probably a year and a half old at the time. Total innocent person there. And you have to go and get him out, but you also have to kick into dad mode. So he is comfortable enough to come to me so i can pick him up, take him out to his grandpa. Come on, i gotcha, bud. Come on. Okay . Attaboy. There you go. I think about that a lot. I think about the little guy, Tyrone Hassel iv. You can sit in my car with him or whatever. That was that was probably one of the most difficult parts of working that scene. The sergeant has a faint pulse as the ambulance heads to the hospital. Unbelievably, its the same hospital where ashanti hassel, tyronnes stepmom, is working the late shift. They came through the back doors of the emergency room, and i seen one of our paramedics actually on top of him, doing compressions. And they were coming toward me, and i could see his face and how he was turned to the side, and i could see his eyes. You knew he was gone . Yeah, i knew because i see it too much not to know. And dr. Hammer walked out, and he just stood there for a second. The only thing that i heard him say was that we actually worked on him longer than we usually do, dear. And he was like, im sorry. And for a second, the only thing that i could, you know, think was like, you dont know, why is this happening to us . Sounds like this dude is home on leave from the army. Back on colfax avenue, investigators know its going to be a long night. We got a guy shot in the head, um, shell cases all over the place where he was standing outside. We really dont have a whole lot to go on. It was a baffling case to start with. One of the things that struck me was, Sergeant Hassels last act was an act of kindness. He was bringing food to his wife and his child on new years eve. Why did this happen . Who wouldve done it . With three decades of experience under his belt, sergeant lanier senses that the answers to those questions will not come easily. 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With breztri, things changed for me. Breztri gave me better breathing. Starting within 5 minutes, i noticed my lung function improved. It helped improve my symptoms, and breztri was even proven to reduce flareups, including those that could send me to the hospital. So now i look forward to more good days. Breztri wont replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. It is not for asthma. Tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. Dont take breztri more than prescribed. Breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. Call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. Cant afford your medication . Astrazeneca may be able to help. Ask your doctor about breztri. What are you doing right now . Are you going to the hospital . Yeah. Okay. You need a ride, tyrone . No, i can make it. Im heading that way. Rick biggart, retired detective lieutenant out of the Berrien County Sheriffs Department. When you have a shooting incident, usually there is a lot of people that show up at the hospital. You want to get there as soon as you can to get some witnesses, family members, just to get initial statements. It was bad. The news spread fast. Everybody was crying and screaming and falling everywhere. Kemia hassel was obviously there when i got there. So she was helpful, she answered the questions. She advised she was at home. They advised that they were both on leave from the u. S. Military. Staying at the hassel house for christmas vacation. That evening, on new years eve, family members went to a party. She was left home alone with her infant child. She advised just before 11 00, tyrone came home, brought her some food, stayed for a brief minute. Tyrone was leaving, going to his vehicle, walking out the door, and she heard several gunshots at that point, at which time she walked outside and found tyrone laying next to his vehicle. Breaking right now, a u. S. Military member home for the holidays has been found dead after being shot multiple times. Police say this happened at the home behind me on colfax. The hassel family home sits on a busy avenue in Benton Harbor, which at the time had the highest Violent Crime rate in michigan. But a heartbroken dad wants everyone to know that Sergeant Hassel was much more than a statistic. Why is it important to you to talk about it . What do you want people to know about this story . Well, i feel like i owe it to my son. He made me a proud father. He just did everything that he needed to do and was so successful, i feel like i want everybody to know about him. So i wont ever stop talking about him. Its tough being good in these communities sometimes. Yeah. When you come from where we come from, you just dont have a child that succeeds to that level. Its exceptional. Definitely. From the classroom to the locker room at Benton Harbor high school, the story is much the same. I think that as a freshman, tyrone knew the direction that he wanted to go. Its a rigorous course, courses, to be in honors. And i think that he mapped himself out to be an honors student. What i knew about tyrone is he was going to show up every day. He was going to show up with a good attitude, and i wasnt going to have to worry about grades or misbehavior or anything like that. Very respectful, willing to do whatever it took. He would play as hard as you needed him to play. The first week of school there was somebody in the back of the room talking, and i looked at tyrone and i asked him to be quiet. It wasnt tyrone talking. And i didnt know at the time. And three days later, he came to my classroom and said, can i speak with you after school . And he said, i just want you to know that was not me talking. I would never disrespect you while youre talking. And from that moment to this one, ive loved tyrone. From there he moved on to grand Valley State University where hassel earned a scholarship to study Mechanical Engineering until he decided to switch gears. I was kind of nervous and a little bit i should say i was probably scared of my son going to the army. You didnt show him too much of that . No, i couldnt. You know, im a dad still. So he actually thanked me once for supporting him with his decision a decision that would take the sergeant away from Benton Harbor. Definitely, when he moved away, he definitely didnt want to come back. He was motivated to do better. He lived here and he knew it wasnt nothing going on. One of my other former players called me, probably 2 00 a. M. , 3 00 a. M. And was like, coach, they killed tyrone. And i had to pause and like, tyrone who . Although i know theres only one tyrone i coached, i know that tyrone isnt involved in any gang activity, drugrelated activity, crime related activity. And hes in the army and he has a family, so who are you talking about . He responded with, tyrone. And the initial evidence tells a story, but not a complete one. Heres what investigators have determined so far. I would guess probably four seconds to walk from here to the truck. He leaves the door, comes down the steps, and boom, hes shot right here. Yep. There were, i believe, five shell casings laying directly next to him, some of it in pools of blood, which tells us that the shooter was very close. There are drivebys that occur, but this was not a driveby, this was up close and personal. It was just an assassination in his driveway. What it wasnt was a robbery. His cell phone, was it inside the truck . Yes, his cell phone, some other i think a wallet and some other property were in the truck. Anything in here . Cell phone, then a black duffel bag. He had a very nice truck that he was driving, that was still there. Weve got a dog here right now. Were gonna track. Well be able to track. A k9 picked up a scent presumed to be the gunmans scent between the hassel home and a neighbors property. This is pretty much the path that he took through the grass here. And the dog ended up about two blocks away in a driveway, which indicates from the k9 that this is where it stopped. So therefore, thinking a vehicle picked him up. There was one neighbor who heard gunshots and saw a parked car and thought that might be something. But they didnt call police. Why not . It seems quite a few people go outside and what we call pop off their guns just to celebrate the new years eve. There were other people that heard the shooting or heard shots. Kind of have to take that with a grain of salt on new years eve. But its clear from the talk on the body camera footage, the celebratory gunfire started long before midnight. [ shots ] geez, theres your automatic gunfire. Happy new year, right . Investigators are counting on someone talking, and they find him. The reason i know all this, i was in my bedroom watching tv and had the shades open. Uhhuh . I could see everything that goes on. With my Psoriatic Arthritis symptoms. But just ok isnt ok. And i was done settling. If you still have symptoms after a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq is different and may help. Rinvoq is a oncedaily pill that can rapidly relieve joint pain, stiffness, and swelling in ra and psa. Relieve fatigue for some. And stop joint damage. And in psa, can leave skin clear or almost clear. Rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. Serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin; heart attack, stroke, and gi tears occurred. 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Dont change or stop asthma medicines, including steroids, without talking to your doctor. Ask your specialist about dupixent. Millions of hard working families. Theyre working harder than ever and they still cant make enough to get by to afford food and medicine to even keep a roof over their heads. We need to build more housing thats truly affordable. We need to address this terrible epidemic of homelessness. We need to invest in good paying jobs, union jobs and investments in our future. This, this is why im running for the us senate. Im adam schiff and i approve this message. The new year begins with a new lead, courtesy of a very observant neighbor. Hey, walt, how are you . Ornery as every. Ornery as ever . Yeah. Weve had a shooting over there, and frank said you saw a vehicle parked over here . He parked right in around the driveway. The reason i know all this is i was at my bedroom watching tv and had the shades open. Uhhuh. I could see everything that goes on. About what time was this . Uh, 9 30, 10 00. Okay. Somewhere around there, right . The first time there, then, they left, come back about 15, 20 minutes later. But when he come back, id bet id bet money on it he was doing 50 miles an hour going up. 50 . At least. And he turned around up there, come back, turned his lights off, backed into the driveway. He stepped out of his car, got back in. A couple of seconds later he got out again completely and started walking. I mean, i watched him. He went and turned left. They stated that they saw what they thought was a male subject walking down gerald street, south, which is in direction of Tyrone Hassels residence. And then a few minutes later, they see the subject car leaving at a high rate of speed. And its important simply because of where its parked to where he had to go is not a very long distance. How valuable was their information . Very valuable. I would call it invaluable. You dont get witnesses like that on every case that you work, so its definitely a great thing to have. And i just add two and two together. He had something to do with it. Okay. Did you hear anything . When i was in bed, yeah. Okay, what did you hear . Gunshots. The information would explain why the k9 lost the scent. But its also general in nature. No make of the car, no model, no license plate. Just a black sedan. Investigators will need more, and the fallen sergeants father is working overtime to provide it. Tyrone hassel jr. Has lived in the community his whole life. He knows the people in the community. He knows the streets. Streets talk, and he wants to know whats going on and what theyre saying. Im gonna show you the Facebook Post that i got that somebody brought to me already. The first name tyrone raises to police is someone from his own family. Not as the shooter, but as the intended target. You can hear him say the name on the Police Body Camera the night of the murder. Thats the first thing i thought about, was was it one of my was it benny . Tyrone was going to find who murdered his son, and i sat and explained to him that we got to do it right. Benny newman is tyrones stepson and lists the colfax address as his own. Hes well known to police. The theory being that benny stole from the wrong guy, who sought revenge but shot the sergeant by mistake. Whoever tried to kill or did kill your brother was trying to kill you. Im here to work a murder and get this thing solved. I told you, if i knew anything that would help you solve my brothers murder case, you think i wouldnt tell you, though . Thats all im trying to say. We just want to get to the bottom of this before somebody else gets hurt. Theyre confronting mr. Newman about that. But he denies any involvement in any other acts, denies that he wouldve been the intended target for this incident, and he denies any knowledge of what took place with Sergeant Hassel. Turns out benny newman has no connection whatsoever with this case, and authorities clear him. There were a lot of different leads that were coming in, and the police were trying to follow up on all of them. Yes, the streets are talking. But its Getting Police nowhere. In the days following the homicide, investigators have to run down an assortment of leads, tips, and rumors. Many of them offering a similar scenario. One that implies that a dirty look or a mean stare was the spark that would later escalate into the shooting. And that was the case here at this local roller rink where tyrone liked to skate with his friends. He just called an old buddy and said, hey, man, come roller skating with me. Wed heard through one of the people that hed had a beef with somebody at the roller rink. Everyone was at a loss trying to explain what happened, right . And one of the leads mightve been that incident at the roller rink. Yeah, they said he got into tool with somebody. He never got in tool with anyone. No . There was no one else who gave him a dirty look or words exchanged . I was on the sideline watching him skate. He was just skating his normal self, happy, smiling, just going around the roller rink. Just normal stuff. Nothing abnormal happened. We talked to the individuals involved, and they say, there was no beef. I dont know what theyre talking about. It mightve been a look or something, but tyrone didnt have any problems with anybody. Its midafternoon on new years eve, and a surveillance camera picks up Sergeant Hassel at this local walmart. Its the last time hes seen in public, and hes with two unknown individuals. You can see Sergeant Hassel over by the counter in the white cap. When he was there, two people approached him at the counter in the Sporting Goods department. There was a brief interaction with that. Well, the police saw that, got that video, and needed to track those people down. He was actually seen with two individuals walking through walmart and talking to these individuals as if he knew them. We were able to determine who they were. It turned out to be a father and a son, and the son had been friends with tyrone, grew up with him, known him basically all his life. And the interaction turned out to be completely innocent, dead end. But you still got to run through all the scenarios and keep investigating. On a cold january evening, the streets talk again. This time, the message is short and direct. A week after the shooting, family members hold a vigil here on the hassels front lawn. It was at that event where a man comes up to tyrone and says, i know who killed your son. Wanna know why people are getting a covid19 shot . Im turning the big seveno and getting back on the apps. Ha ha ha. Variants are out there. And i have mouths to feed. Big show coming up, so we got ours and that blue bandage . Never goes out of style. I prioritize my health. Also, the line was short. Didnt get a covid19 shot in the fall . Theres still time. Book online or go to your local pharmacy. Book online or go to ive always been prone to hair thinning. I was getting older. I was under a lot of stress. I started taking nutrafol. Nutrafol is the number one, dermatologist recommended hair growth supplement. I am back to me. Start your hair growth journey at nutrafol. Com every road, thats wrong seems like the road im on every sign just seems unclear and i, i wish i was here were still going for that nice catch. Were still going for that sweet shot. And with higher stroke risk from afib not caused by a heart valve problem, were going for a better treatment than warfarin. Eliquis. Eliquis reduces stroke risk. And has less major bleeding. Over 97 of eliquis patients did not experience a stroke. Dont stop taking eliquis without talking to your doctor as this may increase your risk of stroke. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. 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Someone in attendance approaches Tyrone Hassel and says the alleged shooter in his sons case is the same man involved in a separate shooting that same night. The second shooting happened about 30 minutes ago on apple avenue in Benton Harbor. On new years eve, there was another shooting, 10, 15 minutes away on apple street. There was a suspect developed with that shooting. So they tried to follow up on that suspect. We had to look at that initially, of course, to see we had a shooting here. Now we got another shooting here. Is this retaliatory . Both shootings involved a 9millimeter handgun. A crime lab will tell investigators all they need to know. It turned out through investigation that it wasnt associated. The evidence didnt link it up. Spent shell casings from the apple shooting scene and spent shell casings from Sergeant Hassels shooting scene did not match up. So we knew it was not the same gun that fired these bullets. Investigators have been spinning their wheels for days now, and frustration is growing. Now time is ticking and the longer an investigation goes on, it becomes increasingly difficult to find out who did it and why they did it. Now were progressing into day four, day five, day six. Were still following up on every lead that comes in, always coming up emptyhanded. It was definitely frustrating having these leads just going nowhere. Going back to square one and almost having to start over the entire investigation just to try to retrace another lead that seemed to be going to another dead end at that time. So it was getting to me. Every tip that we receive came to really a dead end. And, of course, youre going to go through every lead you can find. His mother and father are still wanting justice for him and wanting to know what happened. His wife wanting to know whats going on, telling Tyrone Hassel ii, as shes living in his house, we need to find out who the murderer was. We need to solve this. Kemia hassel remains in town as funeral arrangements are finalized. Was she making plans . The funeral . Yeah, definitely. Id been to the funeral home with her. We went to the church together. We planned the entire funeral, picked out the pictures that would be playing at the repast. She was following through with it all. And then eventually planning to go back to the military base . Yes. And she wanted to have him cremated, and she had her urn picked out, she wanted them to cremate him immediately after the funeral so she can take his ashes back. Until then, the grieving widow sits in solitude in the very same house where the murder occurred. Most of the day she would just sit on the couch and wouldnt move, wouldnt go nowhere. The distraught parents of Sergeant Hassel split their time grieving the loss of their son and comforting their daughterinlaw. You know, every day i would try to console her. I would try to make sure she ate, make sure she tried to get some sleep. Tried to make so she did the proper things she did to take care of herself so she wouldnt have a nervous breakdown is what i was feeling. At that point, i think i turned into a father to her instead of, you know and i had to be strong for my family. Kemia finds comfort on social media, posting, i wish i was dreaming, man. Im trying not to blame myself. And about tyrone she posts my baby loved me. I owe you another baby. We needed a girl. On day 11 of the investigation, cops finally catch a break as that curious black car is spotted once again. Your ancestry is so much more than names and dates. Cmon its the story of your family then and now. A story that made your name mean something. A story youre still writing. So discover your heritage. Preserve your traditions. Represent all that makes you, you. If youre living with hiv, imagine being good to go without daily hiv pills. Good to go bingewatch. 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[sniff] still fresh. Get 6x longerlasting freshness, plus odor protection. Try for under 5 is it possible to count on my internet like my Customers Count on me . It is with comcast business. Keeping you up and running with 99. 9 network reliability. And security that helps outsmart threats to your data. Moaire dida twoo . Your data, too. Theres even roundthe clock customer support. So you can be there for your customers. Hey billy, how you doin . With comcast business, reliability isnt just possible. Thanks. Its happening. Get started for 49. 99 a month. Plus, ask how to get up to a 1000 prepaid card with a qualifying internet package. Dont wait, call and switch today Sergeant Hassel was shot multiple times two times in the head, one time in the neck, and then one time in the right arm. It appeared all at fairly close range. If its up close and personal like that, it usually means that the problem is up close and personal. But nothing added up. There was no motive that we could find locally. I was in close contact with tyrone jr. I had contact with kemia. Every day she would call. By all accounts, she was doing a very good job in the army and working her way up. She was a specialist specialist kemia hassel. Kemia martin grew up in georgia. A member of the junior rotc in high school, she made a name for herself as an Outstanding Young cadet, and she won several awards junior cadet of the month, cadet of the year, Leadership Awards like unit commander. In 2015, while at fort carson in colorado, kemia met Tyrone Hassel. I was there when kemia and ty first met. Ty was a gentleman, charming, smart. She liked him a lot. After probably like three or four months, i think it was serious. How did you hear about his relationship with kemia . When i heard of his relationship with kemia, he was getting engaged. Not even a girlfriend . Not a girlfriend. When he told me he was getting married, i was like, is you getting married for money in the military, or are you getting married because you love her . You say for the money, what do you mean . Because in the military, i believe that you get more money when youre married. He was like, no, dad, i really love her. Then you finally meet kemia, and what did you think of her . It was like i really known her all my life. She walked in, hey, dad. Called me dad right off the bat. So you gain a daughterinlaw, and then very quickly, youre a grandfather . Yep. I gained a daughterinlaw, and then next thing you know, boom, the baby bump. She was pregnant. It was my sons first child. He was happy about it. So when he was happy, i was happy. When i first met kemia, she was a sweet girl, real nice. The military is very hard. So when you find some friends, you kind of want to build your own community and stuff and get to know each other. Reporter dillina and her husband, former Sargeant Mark burks, became fast friends with the hassels. Mark remembers a sweet moment between tyrone and kemia when they all watched the super bowl together in 2018. Fourman rush, caught he had his arm around her, he was kissing her on the cheek. My wife was like, awww. Shes like, why you dont do me like that . I was like, oh, hes so cute. Look at him. And mark was just like, oh, thats just that young love. They just going to get over that. Yeah, he was in love with her. He was hugging up on her, like, this my baby. Its now been a week since the murder. None of the leads have panned out, so police ask kemia to come in for another interview. When youre a week separated from the event, your adrenaline has come down slightly, and you might remember some things that you didnt remember on the scene. This is the neverbeforeseen interview obtained exclusively by 20 20. Okay what hes going to ask you is your phone, so we can download the phone. We have to eliminate you to move on, you know what i mean . So we can focus on other things. We were still just piecing together, because it was really a mystery at that time. We obviously are struggling with some leads right now. We dont have a whole lot going on, so were trying to still piece it together. She was questioned by detective easton and detective peek. Has he ever cheated on you . You guys ever when we were dating, but not while we were married. Youre not a jealous person. Youre not like, hey, were you out fooling around or anything . You give him any kind of grief about it . Mmmm. I never we never had those issues. Okay. Were really just there to get her timeline. What happened . And when . What happens monday . Monday is new years eve. They kind of had their own thing going on, even though it was new years eve. Kemia had stayed behind with their baby, while tyrone went to his familys new years eve party. I wasnt really upset about it because i knew that he was going to be with his family. Yeah. She did say that she was a homebody. You know, not my thing, id rather just sit at home. And then he brought food home for you . Yeah, he brought food home for me and the baby. The detective asked kemia how she felt about tyrones parents. Oh, theyre nice. I always enjoyed them. Theyre really nice people. When kemia and tyrone were overseas in south korea, his parents took care of their baby. They watched our son, well, took care of our son the whole time we were gone. So, they had our baby and the dogs. Thats really nice of them. Yeah. So i mean, you love them. I mean, you consider them like your parents and everything . Yeah. Shes cordial. I mean, shes not crazy outgoing, but she was very, very nice. Does he have Life Insurance . Yeah. We all do. Okay. That comes standard or whatever, right . Its a military thing, yeah. What does he get . The sgli, the amount is 400,000. One of the benefits for your survivors is if you were to be killed in any way, your survivors would get this benefit of Life Insurance. Even though he wasnt in combat or anything, you still get that 400,000 because he was thats what they were saying. Thats a good base for your life. And you can set up maybe a college fund for your kid and everything. Yeah. I mean i wont really know until i get there. Id rather have him than yeah. For sure. Some sgli. Yeah. At this point, kemias Bank Statement shows that she had already received 100,000 in death benefits. That money is in addition to tyrones Life Insurance that she stands to receive. Can i see your phone for a second . Yeah. Do you mind if i run your phone real fast just to see just to track to make sure the messages are all the same . Yeah. All right, ill be right back. So, you have no idea who wouldve done this . Mmmm. And you were not involved in any way whatsoever . Mmmm. And its just it just happened so fast. I saw that he was laid out there by his truck. Then i went out there, im shaking him. Im like, babe, get up, get up. And hes not talking, not responding or anything. Thats when i ran back in the house and got my phone, called 911. When we walked out of the room, we were probably like, she was kinda like emotionless. Maybe shes been crying for seven and a half days and she just has no more tears at that point. In the meantime, st. Josephs Police Department went door to door looking for Surveillance Footage recorded the night of the murder. There was none to be found, except this one. That Security Camera here at enterprise car rental provides investigators with a critical piece of information. It captures Sergeant Hassells pickup truck as he makes his way to kemia to deliver that food from the party. Its that same camera that later captures a black chevy sedan traveling in the opposite direction. Fairly rapidly, driving a little bit erratically, definitely in a suspicious manner. Prior to that, we had received information from a neighbor that observed that vehicle in the driveway. Did you see what kind of vehicle it was . It was a black car, had the lights in the front, you know. Which also contributed to us believing that that was the suspect vehicle on video fleeing the scene. So who was in that car . The license plate was not visible in the video. But the investigation takes a dramatic turn. A week and a half after the murder, a tip comes into st. Joe Township Police department. It was an anonymous phone call from a woman. Sounded like she was near the military base. You guys should look at the wife. She basically told us we need to look at kemia. Zyrtec works hard at hour 1 and twice as hard when you take it again the next day. So betty can be the. Barcode beat conductor. Lets be more than our allergies and for fast allergy relief with a powerful decongestant, try zyrtecd. luke this will be a gold mine of local intel. Just you wait. 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Now everyone at the funerals finding out. At the funeral. Hes like, you dont know. Hes like, wait, huh . Thought i got away with this murder. Im going to tell you my son what did he say . I didnt believe it. My wife almost passed out. The whole house just went crazy. 23yearold Tyrone Hassel iii was an Outstanding Young sergeant with a bright future. He had been gunned down in cold blood while his wife, kemia, and young son were nearby. He was doing so good. He was very likable person. I didnt know of him to ever have any enemies. How on earth did this happen . No one has an ill feeling towards tyrone. I cant imagine this is something that happened because of something he did. He was so young. Hes dead. For what reason, really. There seemed to be no motive for the killing, until 11 days after the murder when Police Receive an anonymous call with a shocking tip. One of our officers received a phone call from an anonymous person in georgia. Stated that it was a female caller, spoke with a heavy jamaican accent. I have a military son, and i had a conversation with him a few nights ago, and he was very distressed about the situation. You guys should look at the wife. She didnt really elaborate too much, but she did kind of hint that there was a relationship that kemia was involved in that may have led to Something Like this. The relationship with the guy and the girl in the same platoon. The tip essentially said kemia was having affair with a man in the army in her platoon unit down in georgia at fort stewart. Fort stewart is the Largest Military installation on the eastern seaboard. Their primary mission is to train the 3rd Infantry Division for any deployments anywhere in the world. And its at that base in georgia, where specialist kemia hassel worked as a truck driver, and where Sergeant Hassel was a wheel mechanic. The very same day the police in michigan got that anonymous call, there was another Stunning Development in the case, this time at fort stewart. Two soldiers went to their chaplain with fear of another service member. His name is Jeremy Cuellar. The two individuals had known about the affair that kemia hassell was having with Jeremy Cuellar. The soldiers were concerned for their own safety after cuellar was becoming more and more anxious. With this information, army cid, the armys criminal investigation division, launches their own probe into the murder of Sergeant Hassel. Kemia became very friendly with specialist Jeremy Cuellar, and that evolved into an affair. It was seen by their friend group. They knew it was going on. Some of those friends are interviewed by Army Investigators at the base. I seen them together, messing around. So, when you say messing around, um what, uh, what are you getting at with that . cause obviously, everybodys got different oh, yeah, yeah, like sexually. Okay. Jeremy cuellar was in the same platoon as kemia hassel. Kemia and jeremy drove trucks for the military. So they worked together fairly closely. Cuellar stated that kemia hassell was his girl and that Sergeant Hassell had to go. Jeremy cuellar was from chicago. He was married. Jeremy is my exhusband. We met in high school. He was eye candy for me at least. He was fine. Like, he was cute. And the way he was, he was charming, very charming. We had learned that jeremy ceullar had a very short temper, was never in a good mood. He was known by some of the people in his platoon to have a little bit of an anger issue. Our relationship was it was rocky. He was cheating on me. I seen women in his phone. I went through his phone, and thats when i seen him conversating with women. And id seen her name on there, kemia. And i didnt think of anything, cause i seen multiple women. It wasnt just her. It was sexual conversations. Army cid talked with sergeant tadarius gholston. He was also in georgia at fort stewart. Sergeant gholston had some firearms that he was looking to sell, and he sold two of them to Jeremy Cuellar. I sold him firearms. Okay. What firearms did you sell him . I sold him a ruger sr sr9e. Its a 9 mil. After talking with another soldier, army cid learns that Jeremy Cuellar had allegedly described how he says he killed Sergeant Hassel. Hes bragging. Hes telling his best buddy on base what he did. After hed shot him, he stood over him and put one in his head to confirm the kill. One of the shots was directly in the forehead. Jeremy cuellar is immediately put under surveillance at his home near the base. In his driveway is a black car that looks very similar to the car caught on Security Camera the night of Sergeant Hassels murder. It was a black chevy impala. And we had conducted a search of the vehicle and discovered 9millimeter ammunition and another 9millimeter magazine. It was believed to be a 9millimeter pistol that was used in the murder of Sergeant Hassel. The license plate number was provided to the st. Joseph Township Police department. We ran that through our license plate readers, and we were able to pick up that he was in michigan in the area of the murder within a few hours of the murder. Just seven hours after army cid started their investigation, Jeremy Cuellar is arrested. And hes detained at the Liberty County jail. The armys criminal investigation command as a special agent and wanted to question you about the following offenses of which you are suspected or accused, and its homicide and conspiracy. Do you understand those . Yeah. Jeremy cuellar invokes his right to remain silent and doesnt speak any more. Back in michigan, police want to talk to kemia about this man, Jeremy Cuellar. Do you know a guy by the name of jeremy cooler . Cuellar . Yeah, i know jeremy. Once we got the information from the u. S. Military, it was go mode. You and jeremy were romantically involved. He flatout says that. No, we were not. Theres a possibility that he has a crush on me, anybody could have a crush on me, but im not dealing with anyone to where that they would want to do something to my husband. Breathing claritin clear is like. Is he . Confidently walking 8 long haired dogs and living as if he doesnt have allergies . Yeah. Fast relief of your worst allergy symptoms, like nasal congestion. [cars honking] im a guy who lost a bet. And my dignity. Get out of the way as if watching my team lose wasnt punishment enough. What are you looking at huh. Its a one speed. Hahaha. Hahaha. And if you have cut rate car insurance, odds are youll be paying for that yourself. So, get allstate and be better protected from mayhem. Like me. Hey, im walking here theyre here. Mcdonalds best classic burgers ever. Theyre hotter. Theyre juicier. Theyre. [hamburglar] robble robble. Looks like weve been hamburgled. [hamburglar] robble robble. 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Investigators confirmed that kemia hassels lover was in michigan the night of the Sergeant Hassels murder. Hed been up here three to four times, and each time, he wasnt able to commit the homicide because either Sergeant Hassel had somebody with him or just wasnt the right opportunity. The Berrien County Sheriffs Department did a lot of the forensics on the phones and was able to put a timeline together for us, showing his comings and goings into michigan. This is actually some property that was recovered in our suspect Jeremy Cuellars house in georgia. There is a receipt here from the illinois toll plaza putting Jeremy Cuellars vehicle coming into town. So it kind of ties together with his car traveling into mesh began as well with the toll receipt. But that security footage we see of Sergeant Hassel at the walmart that day the killer had been nearby . Had been yes. According to the plate scanner, it put his vehicle within a mile of the walmart. Now investigators in michigan are especially eager to interview kemia again, this time about her affair with Jeremy Cuellar. Police reach out to tyrones father. I got a call from officer peppers, and he was like, tyrone, something just came up. I told him, i need you to bring kemia to the Sheriffs Department. And i couldnt really give him much more information than that because of where we were headed with the investigation. I just told kemia i was like, we got to go to the Sheriffs Department. On the way there, did she seem nervous . She asked me. She was like, i wonder why are we going back over here today. Lieutenant biggart was holding the door open, and we walked in, and he was like, mr. Hassel, take a seat right here. Kemia, you go this way. So they separated us immediately. They didnt explain anything to you . He didnt say anything. He just said, its going to be a long night. I walked out the door of the Sheriffs Department, and i kind of stood there for a minute. And im like, what in the world just happened . We took her up to the Sheriffs Department interview room. We got a couple questions for you. Myself and detective lieutenant biggart conducted the interview. You have the right to talk to a lawyer and have them present with you while youre being questioned. She was read her rights. She was willing to talk to us right away without hesitation. This video, obtained exclusively by 20 20 if you give up the right to remain silent and later wish to stop answering questions, no further questions will be asked. You understand that . I understand. Okay. Thats the first time i heard those. Oh, i didnt do it before . No. We try to do all that. We basically right off the bat asked her who Jeremy Cuellar is. Do you know a guy by the name of jeremy cooler . Cuellar . Yeah, i know jeremy. Who is he . I work with him. She originally stated hes just a subject she works with on base. And then we asked her a few times, whats your relationship . Are you guys friends, romantically involved or no, were friends. Were not romantically involved. After about the third or fourth time we asked her about Jeremy Cuellar, she made a statement which was very odd. Whats up with that . She wants to know why were asking about Jeremy Cuellar. Weve got jeremy talking down there. Where . Fort stewart. Officers are down there with him right now. We know what happened. We want your side of the story. Side of the story for what . What happened to tyrone. What what do you mean . What is he saying . We went on to inform her that we have information from the military base in fort stewart of what had happened. Weve got a lot of people coming forward down in fort stewart. What are they saying . The stuff that jeremy told them. In hopes of getting kemia to crack, the detectives lie, which they are legally allowed to do. They say jeremy is telling everything to Army Investigators. And at this point in time, do you wish to have a lawyer . Um, yeah. When in fact he is not talking at all. Jeremys cooperating at the other end, okay . We want to know your involvement of tyrones death. I dont have any involvement in my husbands death. She wouldnt admit to it. You could see her just trying to think of something. At that point, she never really gave up the full relationship, only that she had talked to him. But lets be honest, you and jeremy were romantically involved. He flatout says that. No, we were not. Its a possibility im pregnant right now with my husbands baby. Im not well, that doesnt just because but you want to know something . Why is jeremys you tell me why hes telling people that hes i do not know why hes telling anybody. Ive never been romantically involved. Ive never cheated on my husband. I confronted her with everything that was going on. She still denied it. Now, if theres a possibility that he has a crush on me, anybody could have a crush on me. But im not dealing with anyone to where that they would want to do something to my husband. Ill be back in a minute. See how jeremy is doing over there. So i walked out, gave thought, and i said, lets try a polygraph. We did ask her if she would be willing to take a polygraph. She stated she would and that she wanted to take it to clear her name. I dont really have a choice. I appreciate it. What are my other options . Yeah, i dont really have a choice, and i dont want this going any further with me being attached to it. Right. You know, time was going on, so i called officer peppers. It was, like, midnight. And i said, man, can somebody tell me whats going on . My sons funeral is tomorrow, and kemias there, and nobodys telling me whats going on. And he said, i dont know. Ill call you back. What tyrone didnt know was that officer peppers and sergeant lanier were on a twohour drive to the Michigan State Police Headquarters so kemia could take a lie detector test. When we got there, lieutenant longuski took over. Just write your name across the top. He got her basically to feel relaxed and to befriend her. Im in your corner 110 . Im not bailing. But the one thing i dont do, im not a guy thats going to beat around the bush and go halfway. He flatout confronted her with new information. Somethings going to happen. You understand that. I remember looking at officer peppers just kind of, like, you know, what the hell just happened here . I didnt believe it. My wife almost passed out. My whole house just went crazy. Is there anything else we need to tell . If your moderate to severe Crohns Disease or Ulcerative Colitis symptoms are stopping you in your tracks. Choose stelara® from the start. And move toward relief after the first dose. With injections every two months. Stelara® may increase your risk of infections, some serious, and cancer. Before treatment, get tested for tb. 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After it was done, he simply went to kemia and said, look, i know youre lying. Im in your corner 110 . Im not bailing. He got her basically to feel relaxed and to befriend her, and kemia eventually gave a playbyplay of what happened. In korea, thats where it started. We werent sexual or anything, but we were really close. But you are now. We are really close. You guys were probably sexual somewhere throughout all that. You have to be. Not even just sexually. Its just i just was feeling so bad, like, with ty. And its just, like, he was just there, like listening and everything. She goes on to blame Sergeant Hassel as the reason for her searching out jeremy, saying that he didnt pay enough attention to me. He didnt give me what i needed. So many times, because i was dealing with the baby majority than ty. I can count on my fingers how many times hes given him a bath. Ive worked the same amount of hours that he worked, and i still have to come home and do everything for the baby. As we started to talk, it started to kind of unfold what her role actually was in this. And as it unfolded, she wound up being one of the coldest people ive run into in my career. How do you text him that youre calling him back with the food . I told him that he was bringing us back something to eat. Hes bringing back the food. And he was just like, never mind. Well just try another day. And then i said, well, hes about to bring us something to eat. Were you pretty adamant with him . I mean, what are these messages going to show . Yeah, id be like, hey, hurry up. Hes on the way back. 12 days after her husbands murder, kemia finally comes clean. You said you feel about as responsible as jeremy is. I mean, this is would you say this is a 50 50 you guys were on this . Yeah. Okay. Because i knew all about it. And i like i said, i probably could have stopped it. But the reason that i didnt because i felt like he would be mad at me and not love you anymore . Yeah, because i just felt like i wasnt getting that love at home like i wanted to. Is there anything else we need to tell . We were sexual. That you were sexual . Yeah. Okay. I just want to go through this with you. Kemia hassel signs a document admitting her involvement in the murder. I said, did you plan with jeremy to kill tyrone . You said . Yes. Was the money part of the reason for the murder . Yes. After all of our experiences with kemia throughout the investigation, it was definitely shocking to hear her confess. Shed been sitting on that information the whole time. Hang tight. Well be right back. She was arrested on the Early Morning hours of the 12th. It was actually it was the day of the funeral she was actually locked up. I heard three car doors shut. So i was like, okay, thats probably two officers and kemia. When i opened the door, it was three officers, no kemia. And he told me to come outside on the porch. So im like, no, whats going on . And he was like, we found your sons killer. And im like, who . And he said it was kemia. Wow. You know, i was still in shock. I didnt believe it. My wife almost passed out. You just couldnt believe it . No, i couldnt believe it. I was kind of angry because i sat there with you. And we catered to you for 12 days. Even though we were the ones that were really hurt, we catered to your needs. Was there ever a time when you thought that she mightve been responsible . I couldnt see it. Not at all. Not even a slight chance. Its amazing how sometimes we just dont know a person. If it was a movie, she wouldve won an oscar. Definitely. I found out somebody who i thought i knew found out i really didnt know at all. Sergeant hassels obituary had already been published. It said, he leaves to cherish his memory, his loving wife, kemia hassel. They asked me that day if i wanted to stop the service. But that was not an option. It had already been 12 days now that he hasnt been buried, you know. And we needed to get it going. And now everyone at the funeral is finding out. At the funeral. As the service was going on, you can see people start to whisper to each other, phones coming out. While we were in the funeral, our phones was just blowing up, everybody. We kindly declined the calls. As we were leaving, one of tyrones uncles, he was like, was yall real close . I was like, yeah, man, that was like my brother. Hes like, i could tell. And then i was like, yeah, i just feel bad for kemia. And he was like, oh, you dont know, huh . I was like, know what . He was like, yeah, they came and picked up kemia this morning. And i was like, wait, huh . She set it up. I didnt want to believe it. Jeremy cuellar and kemia hassel are both in jail awaiting trial for the firstdegree murder of Sergeant Tyrone hassel. And kemia makes a revealing phone call to her mother. Im in the jail. Why are you in jail . When your child has moderate to severe eczema, its okay for them to show off. 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Hydro boost. rachel i live with a broken phone i cant trade in. Dewy female friend ll of life. Okay, thats dramatic. A better plan is verizon. rachel oh yeah, lets go vo save up to 1800 and trade in any Samsung Phone for a new galaxy s24 , watch and tablet, all on us only on verizon. Were following breaking news out of Berrien County this morning. Police say a tip led to the arrest of two suspects in the murder of Tyrone Hassel iii. News broke just hours before hassels family and friends gathered for his funeral. Everybody is in the church whispering amongst each other, cause it came up on the news break that jeremy and kemia was arrested. She is booked in at the Berrien County jail, and she immediately calls her mom. Hello, this is a call from an inmate at the Berrien County jail. So kemia, when did all this come about . It was planned in korea. I got myself mixed up in something i didnt think would be like this. I cant hear you. We planned it. Yall planned it . Yeah. Kemia, i dont believe that. Was somebody making you say that . Somebody made me plan it. I he, he was forcing me, and i dont know i was who was forcing you, kemia . His name is quay. Why was quay forcing you . cause he wanted to be with me. So that we could be together. Her mom expressed her extreme disappointment in her child at that time. Why yall didnt just break up . He wasnt letting me, and i was scared to tell anybody about what was going on. Who you were scared to tell . You talk to me all the time, you couldve told me. I just knew that you would be disappointed. So, you was living a double life and you done had your husband killed, the father of your child, and you talking about id be disappointed . No, im disappointed in this. This is what im disappointed in. It was our lead story many days. A u. S. Army soldier is now on trial in the new years eve murder of her own husband in Berrien County. And people were so stunned by what that young woman was capable of, that people wanted to hear what really happened. If Sergeant Hassel was killed, shed get that money, and a lot of it. This was a strong case. I want everything out for that jury right away, and i want them convinced in opening statement. You will find that he was the victim of a planned killing conceived months before. The woman responsible for that killing is seated right there. The defendant. Youll find she had murder on her mind and betrayal in her heart. So, this whole plan of kemia and cuellar wasnt out of the heat of the moment. This was a planned execution. It was just when and where. At times, Jeremy Cuellar said, look its not working out tonight, well do it another time. And the defendant said, no, no we got to get it done tonight. She was using snapchat to tell Jeremy Cuellar where Sergeant Hassel was, when he was leaving the house, when he was coming back, when he was in his vehicle. And thats how they planned it. We went through her cellphone and one of the google searches was, how to delete snapchat from your cellphone. Snapchat was not on her phone, so obviously shed eliminated an application from her phone to evade that data. Cell phone records also show that Sergeant Hassel texted his wife at 10 48 p. M. It said just wrapped yall food up. About to be on the way. Then four minutes later, shes on the phone with Jeremy Cuellar. And she let cuellar know at that time, hey, you cant leave. Hes coming to bring me food. This is the time. Steve pierangeli, the prosecutor, did his best to try and create kemia this image as though she was some mastermind criminal. Kemia, i think unfortunately, hitched her wagon to a very dangerous individual and allowed herself to follow his lead. Jeremy cuellar is directly, no question about it, responsible for Tyrone Hassels death. But just because hes responsible does not mean kemia hassels involved. This is mr. Cuellars plan. This is his idea. Kemias defense attorney also argued that she was manipulated into a confession by the police. Youre a victim in this. You were still under his control. Hes been working you since korea. I knew it for a fact that hed manipulated her. When i crossexamined him, i asked him, i said, you knew what buttons to push. You were looking to get her to tell you what you wanted to hear. And one of the things that youre allowed to do when youre interviewing someone, is youre allowed to make things up. Is that right . That is correct. Youre allowed to lie to a subject, to see what they will say in response to your lies. Is that right . Thats correct. They tried to play detective longuski as an expert who manipulated her and fed her the evidence that she regurgitated to him. Isnt that a huge step, to kill your husband just to be with another guy . But when you broke down his interview with her, she would always give out the evidence first. Multiple people take the stand, including tyrones father, friends, and first responders. But the prosecution believed the star witness was Army Specialist jaquan hamilton state your name, please. Who was friends with jeremy and kemia. Jaquan says that jeremy told him about his plan to kill tyrone. He basically explained, buddy has to go, he has to get done. He has to get rid of him. The defense went after jaquan, who initially did not report jeremys plan because he didnt think he was serious. If you had reported this, maybe, maybe it wouldnt have happened. Is that fair . Yes. When Jeremy Cuellar went back to georgia, he made statements to jaquan hamilton about killing Sergeant Hassel. And when he first approached you, what did he say . He said, its done. I had to do what i had to do. Did he give you any talk any further about it . He was going into details, basically just saying, i caught him coming out the house and he shot him in the head and then dropped and then he shot him again. When you asked him whether or not kemia hassel was involved in the planning of the murder of her husband, what did he say . He said its mutual. It has to be done. It was Jeremy Cuellars own mouth that got them caught. If he had not bragged about what was going on to other soldiers at the base down in georgia, they mightve got away with this murder. The defense didnt call any witnesses. The amount of evidence that was against kemia was considerable, certainly not the least of which was her statements to detective longuski and also her statements that were recorded in the conversation with her mother. Theres no crossexamine that could really be done on those phone calls. And that was the last piece of evidence they got to hear before i rested my case. A jury deliberated for one hour and eight minutes to find kemia hassel guilty in the murder of her husband, army staff Sergeant Tyrone hassel iii. Guilty of firstdegree premeditated murder as aider or abettor. Guilty of conspiracy to commit firstdegree premeditated murder. Kemia had no real reaction in court. She didnt look our way. She was not emotional. Theres no doubt in my mind that had kemia never met Jeremy Cuellar, this never wouldve happened. I think jeremy had convinced her that this was the way to go. This was her only route towards happiness. She had everything that she could have wanted. A car, a family, a house, a career, and she let it all go for some insurance money. He was something to everybody he met, but to you, he was expendable. He was a check. A 400,000 check. So, now its jeremys turn to have his day in court. I was like, this dude is sick. And he has a surprise encounter with Sergeant Hassels father. Ima just tell you my side. You know. You do deserve that. Oducing nes plaque psoriasis. He thinks his flaky, red patches are all people see. Otezla is the 1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. It can help you get clearer skin. 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Existing customers can get a free line of our most popular unlimited plan for a year not only will you save hundreds, but youll also be joining millions who have connected to americas most reliable 5g network. Sure is a lot safer than becoming a stuntman for money. Get a free line of unlimited intro for a year when you buy one unlimited line. Plus, get the new Samsung Galaxy s24 on us. This ad . Typical. Politicians. Hes bad. Im good. Blah, blah. Lets shake things up. With katie porter. Porter refuses corporate pac money. And leads the fight to ban congressional stock trading. Katie porter. Taking on big banks to make housing more affordable. And drug company ceos to stop their price gouging. Most politicians just fight each other. While katie porter fights for you. For Senate Democrat katie porter. Im katie porter and i approve this message. Kemia hassel was sentenced today to life in prison without parole for helping her boyfriend kill her husband Tyrone Hassel iii. Cuellar took a plea of seconddegree murder, so he didnt even want to take it to trial. Jeremy cuellar was sentenced today to 65 to 90 years in prison. We made that plea bargain after talking with the family, and we believe that 65 years was enough. I seen all the information they were saying in court. That was my first time even hearing the information. And i had this pit in my stomach. I was so disgusted. Theres no question that the guy was pretty unhinged. I mean, he told a friend of his that he was planning a murder, and then he told the same friend that he had committed this murder. He would cry on the phone and just, im so sorry. And im like, no, youre not. Youre just sorry you got caught. Because if you didnt get caught, you probably would be living your damn best life right now. In contrast to kemia, Jeremy Cuellar did show some emotion as he was sentenced and as he was listening to tyrones mother speak in court. You did all of this for money and my sons spot. You could have had his house, his wife, and help raise his son. But you could never be him. He was better than you, and he still is because the kind of person that he was, his name will live on. Um i want to apologize to the family again. Sincerely. I was a fool for just taking her words and not really looking to see who he was. I just had issues within my own, my own demons. After we took his plea agreement, while he was walking out of court, he told Tyrone Hassel jr. , i want to talk with you. I need to talk with you. I was in the hallway, and he was trying to say something. I said, i want to know what he was trying to say. And lieutenant biggart heard me. I did speak with tyrone and said, hes reaching out, he wants to talk to you. I spoke with his attorney, and his attorney said, thats fine, you can set it up. Everything will be recorded. And it was just going to be a standard jail visit. But the visit is not what it looks like on the video. I couldnt see him across from me. I was looking at a monitor, and he was looking at a monitor. He was in a different location. How you doing, sir . Im all right, um, you know, under the circumstances. Honestly, uh, im very sorry, you know. I know that is, is, is not even enough, you know . Um ima just tell you my side, you know . You know, i know, regardless, you know, but you do deserve that. And to be honest with you, its sad, but you deserve that. What did he say . He said a lot more than i really wanted to hear as far as his relationship with kemia and stuff. I didnt come to really listen to that, but i did, because i didnt want him to shut down on me. Im being real with you, like, uh, im truly sorry. I thought i loved her. I was all over the place, you know what im saying . And, for some reason, i thought kemia was like my light. You know what im saying . You could see the anger. You could see the disgust in Tyrone Hassel jr. s eyes. He was pretty graphic in his description, what he did . Yeah, and he told me how many times he came to kill my son. It honestly took me like six times, sir, at least six times, im being completely honest with you. The first time, i choked. And i know from what he was saying and him describing my house, that it was real. Hed been there before. He had been there before. I do remember him saying he was hiding behind the garbage cans one day. You know your, um, the two garbage cans you have right there by your patio . Yep. Uh, i was waiting right there, and he had came out. Look, i choked many times, you know what i mean . My mind was twisted. I thought i had to do that in order for me to have a family with her because i wanted kids. Jeremy cuellar didnt hold back. He spilled everything. How it was planned, how he executed his son in his driveway. Thats when she was like oh, hes coming back. And i was like, you really just want me to do this [ bleep ] . So i was like, man, [ bleep ] it. So i, i came back and thats when it happened. He definitely owned up to his part of all of it. I think he wanted to give closure to tyrone of everything that happened so there wasnt questions maybe thats in his mind. And for the heartbroken father to sit there and listen, when he knew the truth and what had happened, that took strength that i dont think most people could muster. I wanted any information that i could get out of him, and i wanted to know how much involvement she had in it. When he got shot, what did she did she come out . Did she really, you know, act, she acted so concerned. I was yeah, i was just wondering if she talked to you about that afterwards. I mean, yeah, she did. Matter 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 im like, then whyd you have me [ bleep ] do it then . Do you think kemia was the mastermind of this crime . I know she was the mastermind. And i realized that he was just as sick as she was. For him to think that after they did what they did, that they can just have a happy ever after life. I hope and pray that within himself and his soul, that he knows what he did was wrong, and he accepts it and he just has to, he got to roll with the punches. You got to deal with it. But just months after talking to Tyrone Hassel, jeremy shocks everybody again. This time hes taking it all back. Jeremy cuellar, the man who previously pleaded guilty to the murder of Tyrone Hassel iii, now hoping to withdraw that plea. Withdrawing it is kinda like a slap in the face. It makes you wonder what is this guy thinking . Discover the ozempic® trizone. I got the power of 3. I lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. In studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. Im under 7. Ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known Heart Disease. Im lowering my risk. Adults lost up to 14 pounds. 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Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. Get back to better breathing. Ask your doctor about fasenra. Some of your favorites . That one. This is all the tyrones. Yes. One, two, three and four. Four generations. Yep. Thats his son, thats chunk. Thats one of my favorite pictures right there. We dont have him anymore. We dont have one of our kids. cause you know, when you look at pictures of them when theyre babies or whatever, usually theyre still here. I felt like, man, this is the only thing we have left, is pictures. Just months after speaking with tyrones father, Jeremy Cuellar tried to withdraw his guilty plea, but the judge upheld it. How often do you think of tyrone . All the time. Every day. Especially when i have to work with his daddy. His laugh is just the same. It sounds like im standing next to him again. How do you want the world to remember your buddy . As a very nice, charismatic guy that loved his family and loved the people he grew up with. And what about kemia and tyrones son, Tyrone Hassel iv, nicknamed chunk . He currently lives with kemias mother. The hassel family gets to see him over facetime. What message would you have for your grandson . I got a lot of things to talk to him about. I would like him to know that his father was a good man and his father loved him very dearly. I would tell chunk that his dad was remarkable, and all he ever wanted was for chunk to be better than remarkable. All Tyrone Hassel iii wanted to do was lay a foundation for his son, Tyrone Hassel iv. Thats legacy. He wore number one. So the first home game of every year since his tragic passing, we call fly high ty day and dedicate it to him, have his parents come out, put up a banner, throw the first pitch. Sergeant hassel wanted so much to give back to this community. And the hardest part is, well never know what Sergeant Hassel could have done. Specialist Tyrone Hassel. [ cheers ] the time that he was with us, he was successful, and he was living his dream. He was doing what he wanted to do, and he was happy. Deborah kemia hassel still has an appeal pending. We reached out to her for comment, but see has not responded. David as for the 100,000 in insurance money kemia was already paid, the military was able to get it back. It is now in a trust for the couples son. That is our program tonight. Im david muir. Deborah im deborah roberts. From all of us here at 20 20 and abc news, good night. And lets take a live look outside this friday night. We are expecting this picture to change in just a matter of hours. Back to back storms are expected to hit the bay area over the weekend. Good evening. Im ama daetz and im dan ashley. Thanks for joining us. Some areas are going to see a lot of rain from these storms with the firstrillionound arriving tomorrow. Meteorologist andy patel is tracking it for us tonight. Sandy. Yeah. And dan. And consider this the lull before the storms hit. Lets check out live doppler seven. Weve already seen a few hundre o