A Washington state man is in jail after allegedly killing his girlfriend, chopping up her body, and leaving her remains in an apartment.
Willie James McCoo, 55, is accused of murder in the stabbing death of Kiara Sewell, 31. On June 15, at approximately 12:20 p.m., Seattle police officers responded to an apartment building in the 900 block of North 143 Street. When officers arrived, they found the alleged victim and noticed that Sewell displayed “obvious signs of trauma.”
According to a police report obtained by local NBC affiliate KING, McCoo and Sewell were seen on surveillance video entering and exiting the building on June 8 and 9, but only McCoo was seen afterward. In the days leading up to the discovery of Sewell’s body, he was frequently captured on video carrying duffle bags and garbage bags. The coroner determined that Sewell most likely died on June 10.
Detectives executed a search warrant on McCoo’s storage locker and reportedly found an 18-inch machete and an 11-inch hunting knife.
“What in the world did she do that you could have done something like this?” Taneika Tigner, Sewell’s mother, told the local ABC affiliate KOMO. “I want him to pay for what he did to my daughter; he deserves to rot.” He stabbed her in the face. “The back of her neck is severed.”
On Monday, police arrested McCoo for murder. He is in the King County Correctional Facility on a $4 million bond.
According to KOMO, McCoo was released from prison last fall after serving nearly 20 years for attacking a woman with a knife while she slept. He was convicted of first-degree assault and sentenced to more than 28 years behind bars. However, after the Washington Supreme Court ruled that the state’s drug possession law was unconstitutional, McCoo’s sentence was reduced by approximately eight years. McCoo had nearly ten drug possession convictions, which were included in his sentencing guideline score. McCoo was sentenced to about 20 years in prison after his drug possession cases were dismissed.
Sewell’s uncle, Sekou Forrester, told KING that the family believes the justice system failed them.
“He’s lived on this earth for this long and hasn’t done anything but cause destruction,” the man said.
Sewell leaves behind four children.
“Kiara wouldn’t want her friends and family and all that knew her to sit in sadness, yes mourn but don’t stay there but get up and move on and celebrate her life,” according to a posting on GoFundMe. “When you think of her think about her beautiful smile, her wild and crazy stories, and her (off key) singing.”
