Left: Willie McCoo (Seattle Department of Corrections). Right: Kiara Sewell (GoFundMe).
A Washington state man is behind bars after he allegedly killed his girlfriend, then chopped up her body and left her remains in an apartment.
Willie James McCoo, 55, is facing charges of murder for allegedly stabbing to death 31-year-old Kiara Sewell. On June 15, at approximately 12:20 p.m., Seattle police officers were dispatched to an apartment complex located in the 900 block of North 143 Street. Upon their arrival, they found Sewell, who exhibited “obvious signs of trauma,” prompting them to investigate further.
A police report accessed by local NBC affiliate KING disclosed that surveillance footage captured McCoo and Sewell entering and exiting the building between June 8 and 9. However, after that period, only McCoo was seen on the footage, often carrying duffle and garbage bags, days before authorities discovered Sewell’s body. According to the coroner, Sewell likely died on June 10.
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During a search of McCoo’s storage locker, detectives reportedly found a machete with an 18-inch blade as well as a hunting knife with an 11-inch blade, potentially linking these items to the crime.
“What in the world did she do that you could have done something like this?” Sewell’s mother, Taneika Tigner, told local ABC affiliate KOMO. “I want him to pay for what he did to my daughter; he needs to rot. He stabbed her in the face. The back of her neck is decapitated.”
Cops arrested McCoo for murder on Monday. He’s in the King County Correctional Facility on a $4 million bond.
KOMO reported McCoo was released from prison last fall after serving nearly 20 years for attacking a woman with a knife while she was sleeping. He was convicted of first-degree assault and sentenced to more than 28 years in prison. But McCoo had about eight years taken off his sentence after the Washington Supreme Court ruled the state’s drug possession law was unconstitutional. McCoo had nearly 10 drug possession convictions that were factored into his sentencing guideline score. With those drug possession cases tossed, McCoo was resentenced to about 20 years.
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Sewell’s uncle Sekou Forrester told KING that the family feels the justice system let them down.
“He’s lived on this earth for this long and hasn’t done anything but cause destruction,” he said.
Sewell leaves behind her 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,” a GoFundMe post said. “When you think of her think about her beautiful smile, her wild and crazy stories, and her (off key) singing.”
