The authorities in California said Monday night that they had captured a man who fatally stabbed a young woman and wounded her sister at an Oakland transit station over the weekend, the latest of three unrelated homicides at Bay Area transit stations in less than a week.
The Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Department identified the stabbing suspect as 27-year-old John Lee Cowell, a parolee who was released from prison about four months ago.
Around 6:30 p.m. local time, the police took him into custody at the Pleasant Hill BART station, about 15 miles northeast of where the stabbing took place, said Chief Carlos Rojas of the BART Police Department. He said riders had identified Mr. Cowell, whose picture had been widely distributed. The suspect was unarmed when he was arrested.
Chief Rojas said Mr. Cowell “has a violent past” and is “a dangerous individual,” though he would not detail Mr. Cowell’s criminal history. Available court records show that Mr. Cowell has committed criminal and traffic-related offenses, but they do not detail the nature of the crimes. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that he was convicted of felony second-degree robbery in 2016, and convicted of battery in 2013.
Latifah, older sister of Nia Wilson whom was killed after a man suddenly stabbed the two sisters exiting a train at MacArthur BART station, is recounting what happened when her sister was fatally stabbed. Latifah says they had helped a women with her stroller and suddenly the man had stabbed her sister who was walking steps behind her. He then turned on Latifah slashing her kneck nearly hitting her artery.
Latifah recalls Nia's last words following the attack:
"She's just yelling my name, 'Tifah, Tifah, Tifah,' and I said, 'I got you baby, I got you,'" said Wilson as she described the unprovoked stabbing.
Nia Wilson, 18, was savagely stabbed and killed just after riding a BART train in Oakland on Sunday night. Her older sister, Letifah Wilson (previously named as Tashiya by a number of sources), was also wounded. The suspect, named by BART officials as John Cowell, fled and is currently at large. Concerned residents are asking for surveillance footage to be released so they can identify the suspect. Here is what you need to know about Nia Wilson, the suspect, and the tragedy that unfolded on Sunday night. (For more details about John Cowell, the suspect in Nia’s death, see Heavy’s story here.) This is a developing story.
1. Nia Wilson & Her Sister Were Stabbed Around 9:45 p.m. at the MacArthur Station, After the Suspect Followed Them Off the Train
URGENT – ALL HANDS ON DECK Last night in Oakland a 25-30 year old heavyset white man targeted and slashed the throats of 2 teenage girls – killing 18 y/o #NiaWilson and critically injuring her sister. We need to find this man IMMEDIATELY. Full Story: https://t.co/38OjRbbXQn pic.twitter.com/dL2S7RgVuZ — Shaun King (@ShaunKing) July 23, 2018
Nia Wilson, 18, and her older sister, Letifah Wilson, 21, (identified earlier in a number of sources as Tashiya Wilson) were stabbed in a “random attack” just after they rode a BART train in Oakland at the MacArthur Station on Sunday night, SFGate reported. Nia was stabbed in the neck and passed away. Her sister was taken to the hospital for treatment.
The horrific tragedies just compounded what was already a sorrowful day for the family. According to Nia’s cousin Ebony Monroe, Nia has been celebrating the birthday of her boyfriend, who had passed away two years ago after drowning in a lake, KTVU reported.
The suspect, later named as John Lee Cowell, followed the victims off the train when they exited the Warm Springs line at MacArthur Station, reported Elissa Harrington of KTVU. He stabbed the two women on the platform. (San Francisco Chronicle reported that they were waiting for a train when they were stabbed.)
Letifah told ABC 7 that they never saw Cowell or exchanged any words with him before the stabbing. “All of a sudden we transfer, just to get blindsided by a maniac, for what I don’t know,” she said. “I looked back and he was wiping off his knife and stood at the stairs and just looked. From then on, I was caring for my sister.”
The suspect was last seen fleeing into the nearby neighborhood after passengers tried to stop him. He was taken into custody early Monday evening at the Pleasant Hill BART, nearly a full day after the stabbing.
BART Chief of Police Carlos Rojas said during a press conference that there was no evidence that the attack was racially motivated, but police weren’t ruling out the possibility either.
2. The Suspect, John Cowell, Is Described as Caucasian, 5’8″ and 190 Pounds, With Short Dark Hair & a Closely Cropped Beard & Mustache
Murder suspect identified in MacArthur stabbing. John Cowell is considered dangerous. Please call 911 if spotted. RIP Nia Wilson. We will bring this suspect to justice. Our thoughts are with the family and friends. Details: https://t.co/DEkTJvJnNe pic.twitter.com/igZU2bdel7 — SFBART (@SFBART) July 23, 2018
Witnesses described the suspect in the stabbing as a heavyset white male in his 20s and 30s, SFGate reported. They said he was 5’9″ and described as having “blonde hair spiked on the side,” KTVU reported. When his identity was later released, some of those details were not quite accurate. Police said he was a Caucasian, 5’8″, 190 pounds, had short dark hair, and a closely cropped beard and mustache.
BART authorities named the suspect as John Cowell. He fled the scene and was later apprehended on Monday night. His name wasn’t released until Monday afternoon after the Sunday night stabbing. According to police, John Cowell was a felon who was on parole who was considered dangerous.
If you’re in the Oakland/Berkeley area be alert of your surroundings. A white male 5’9 with spiked hair on the side stabbed 2 sisters on Bart at MacArthur station the police are yet to catch him — C👑 (@camillemechell_) July 23, 2018
Court records showed that in May 2016 he was convicted of felony second-degree robbery, SFGate reported. A Kaiser hospital in Richmond had obtained a restraining order against him in 2016 because they said he repeatedly harassed and threatened staff members. He was homeless and would sometimes show up at the emergency room and make threats, said Jason Curliano, an attorney who represents the hospital, to SFGate. A different restraining order was also filed against him in 2015. He also had a number of misdemeanor convictions and a battery conviction.
BART police found a large knife near a construction site under Highway 24 along the MacArthur BART Access Road, KTVU reported. It’s unclear if the knife is related to the attack.
#UPDATE: #BART police just found a large knife. It was found in construction site under Hwy 24 along MacArthur BART Access Road. Investigators just bagged it up and removed it from scene. @KTVU pic.twitter.com/PbUK2j5K8l — Elissa Harrington (@EHarringtonTV) July 23, 2018
Here is a photo of the knife they bagged as evidence:
This is the knife #BART police found at construction site. They bagged it up as evidence – unknown if it is knife used in deadly attack. @KTVU pic.twitter.com/8GLJiGh6yZ — Elissa Harrington (@EHarringtonTV) July 23, 2018
Friends and family are heartbroken about Nia and want justice.
Why isn’t this being covered all over mainstream news???? Throat slit by a white man??? Come on yalllll & the suspect was headed towards Antioch, ca. This is fucking ridiculous…. I’m sorry little ma😢💜 RIP pic.twitter.com/YWETGQJCCN — Claryzza Abille (@papiclary) July 23, 2018
Some are sharing the call for justice under the hashtag #JusticeForTashiyaAndNia or #JusticeForNia. (However, it was later revealed that Nia’s sister’s name is Letifah.)
Dam this is sad and justice needs to be served #JusticeForTashiyaAndNia pic.twitter.com/upsJe3tJyW — Jhagundy (@J_Terrell_) July 23, 2018
Letifah later spoke to ABC 7 about the horrific attack that killed her sister. “She’s just yelling my name, ‘Tifah, Tifah, Tifah,’ and I said, ‘I got you baby, I got you…'” She added, “I’m her protector and I feel like I didn’t protect her.”
Here are the 5 siblings. They tell me they hadn't seen Nia Wilson in 6 months. The family had just come back together for a family gathering. pic.twitter.com/NBJii1ramv — Melanie Woodrow (@MelanieWoodrow) July 23, 2018
As Nia called out for her sister, Letifah said she just responded, “We’re gonna get through this, I got you, you’re my baby sister.”
Woke Up To This Disturbing News A Beautiful Young Girl Was Killed At The Hands Of White Man In A Random Act Of Violence At MacAuthur Bart Station On Sunday Night. Life Isn’t Promised The Next Second Minute Hour Let’s Not Take Life For Granted. #JusticeForNia. pic.twitter.com/sFujLQoW84 — Ch$||$y🤑👅💅🏾 (@CaliGirlChelley) July 23, 2018
Letifah said that a woman in a stroller gave her a baby blanket to apply to her sister’s neck. Letifah was in pain from being stabbed herself, but all her attention was on doing what she could for her baby sister. Letifah was stabbed in the neck too and had to get stitches in her neck. “Miss the artery, thank God, missed the veins,” she told ABC 7. “He tried to swing twice, hit me in my head…”
#BART stabbing victim remembering her sister and recalling their final moments together pic.twitter.com/uiyEEAKcF8 — Melanie Woodrow (@MelanieWoodrow) July 23, 2018
“She was my heart,” Letifah told ABC 7 about Nia. “No matter our ups and downs, we still come back to each other like it was nothing.”
They rarely took BART, she added, and this was the first time they’d seen each other in about six months. In fact, Nia was scared of BART, her mom, Alicia Greyson, told CBS San Francisco.
“My baby was only 18,” she said. “She was less than 100 pounds soaking wet. This man just came up and did all this to my baby. My baby didn’t deserve this. She hated BART. She was always saying, ‘Mama, I’m scared of BART.'”
3. Police Had Surveillance Images But Did Not Share Them Until Monday Afternoon
This is 18 y/o Nia Wilson. Tonight she was stabbed and killed in a random ambush attack by a suspected white supremacist male, who is still on the loose in Oakland Ca right now pic.twitter.com/fOKmS1lQfD — Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) July 23, 2018
Jim Allison, BART spokesman, told KTVU that they have surveillance images of the suspect, but weren’t sharing them right away. Elissa Harrington of KTVU said she asked BART if they would release images of the suspect, and officials told her they were not releasing photos immediately.
I asked BART if they would share images of suspect – they said not at this time. https://t.co/hhkbfxWy7k — Elissa Harrington (@EHarringtonTV) July 23, 2018
Authorities did later release the photos, but not until around 12:30 p.m. on Monday, and the stabbing was Sunday night.
Concerned citizens were calling for any surveillance footage or photos that might possibly show the suspect to be released right away. Kehlani had joined the cause, urging officials to release any footage of the suspect and to not delay.
rest in peace Nia Wilson. praying for your sister to pull through and heal, and for her heart when she does. God bless your family. BART, you have cameras & thousands of passengers daily, you’re being held accountable!!! this shit is wild. so young, super heartbreaking…💔 — Kehlani (@Kehlani) July 23, 2018
#BART manages to catch riders who haven’t paid ticket fair, young graffiti artists, you can catch a murderer. give her family some peace and get a murderous white supremecist off of oakland streets. — Kehlani (@Kehlani) July 23, 2018
It’s not clear why officials did not release surveillance photos or videos immediately. BART officials posted that they would be releasing the still surveillance images at a media event “in several hours,” which they later did.
9:30 am update: We will be releasing still surveillance images at a media event within the next several hours. https://t.co/delwasPInJ — SFBART (@SFBART) July 23, 2018
After posting the update, Nia Wilson’s cousin tweeted anger at the delay:
What’s taking so long? I arrived at MacArthur Bart at 12:13 AM, my cousin had already passed away, and there still are no images? Come on man he could be anywhere RIGHT NOW https://t.co/kTkFZGlcyT — s l iii m 💛 (@only1shaqueoia) July 23, 2018
Others expressed the same confusion.
Where are the pics of the suspect???! All the cameras & phones why isn’t @oaklandpoliceca releasing the suspect’s picture?! So we are just going to let some random white man stab a young black woman to death and not alert the community as to his appearance?! Smh. #JusticeforNia https://t.co/kLD5VMMkCe — Chaz Garcia (@mz__chaz) July 23, 2018
Here are photos of the suspect John Cowell, provided by BART:
This chilling photo of Cowell shows him the night of the stabbing:
Share this clearer image of the murderer John Cowell. They should’ve released this one instead of the grainy version of the other one. He’s 5,9” & weighs nearly 200 pounds. This is now the best, clearest image of him after the murder. pic.twitter.com/UCXqGA7bq0 — Shaun King (@ShaunKing) July 24, 2018
4. The Attack Seemed to Come Out of Nowhere, While Nia Was Helping a Woman with a Stroller Get Off the Train
The heartless, horrific act happened while Nia was helping another passenger she didn’t even know. She stopped to help a woman with a stroller who was struggling to exit the train at the MacArthur station. At that moment, a man pulled out a knife and slashed her neck and stabbed her sister, CBS San Francisco reported.
A man who only witnessed the last part of the attack said he heard a commotion and turned around to see one victim bleeding from her neck and the suspect “poking” the other woman, SFGate reported. He didn’t hear arguing or yelling before the attack.
Another witness said the suspect seemed to come out of nowhere, SFGate reported.
Nicole Mikels, whose train had just entered the MacArthur Station Sunday night, said everything was quite when she heard “horrifying screams,” SF Chronicle reported. Mikels told the Chronicle: “The one sister … came out first and was screaming for help. Her sister was bleeding profusely by the neck — her entire torso was covered in blood.”
Mikels said that she helped try to calm Tayisha while officials attempted CPR on Nia. “She said everything happened so fast… It was a white male that had slit her sister’s throat.”
5. Nia Wilson Was a High School Student Who Loved Her Family, Fashion & Makeup, & a GoFundMe Has Been Set Up for Her Family
Wilson, only 18, had her entire life ahead of her. She was a student at Oakland High School. Her cousin, Ebony Monroe, said she loved her cousins, fashion, and makeup. She was a “beautiful, sweet person” Monroe told SFGate.
Her Facebook reveals a strong young woman who was loyal to her friends. She wrote in May: “I’m not the type of b**** that needs any kind of sympathy period ion need nobody to feel bad for me don’t put that weak s*** in or on me I take mines for what is & shake back period I then already been through storm & it ain’t no folding this way I’m through it all to the necklace .”
Here are more photos of Nia Wilson. Her life ended tragically, cut short before she could experience all that the world had to offer.
Her sister Letifah, who was also stabbed, told ABC 7 that Nia is one of the sweetest people in the world. “She didn’t do nothing to nobody, I didn’t do nothing to nobody, and for this to happen is just outright crazy,” she said.
Ansar Mohammed, who identified himself to KTVU as Wilson’s father, is begging for justice. He works at Highland Hospital and said he sees crimes like this every day, “but I never imagined myself going through nothing like this. That’s my baby girl up there.”
According to friends, Nia had just gotten a new job and was looking forward to the future.
I love you Nia 💔🙏🏾 You didn’t deserve what happened to you. You just got a new job baby you was on top of it. You was striving to do better. This got me sick. #NiaWilson #JusticeForNia I love you Shi i got you @ayihsatbish pic.twitter.com/of5vKcHIm1 — Daddy ✨🍒 (@neikaworldjass) July 23, 2018
Nia’s mom told CBS San Francisco that she had never been in trouble and had never gone to jail. “She was a cheerleader,” she said. “She played basketball… She had her CPR training… She was so smart and gifted.”
Nia had even once used her CPR training to help a choking relative, her mom said. During her great-uncle’s funeral, a piece of chicken was wedged in a family member’s throat. Nia did the Heimlich maneuver, she said, and saved her life.
A GoFundMe has been set up by Malika Harris, Nia’s older sister. So far more than $1,000 has been donated. You can contribute to the GoFundMe here.
Malike wrote: “Nia was a 18 year old young woman who was full of life, smart and beautiful beyond word’s. Nia loved to do makeup, hair and get dolled up and enjoy life. Nia is a very caring and giving person who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Shouldn’t no mother or father have to put their 18 year old innocent child to rest because of a hateful inconsiderate person. We just want justice for Nia. Please for my family thank you. Nia will be loved and missed by so many family and friends. Please let’s end racism all over the world Nia did not deserve this.”
Nia’s nickname was PG, short for “pretty girl,” Letifah told ABC 7. She wanted to be a lawyer or work in some form of criminal justice. But she also had a creative side and wanted to own a dance studio and haver her own makeup line.
A vigil was held for Nia on Saturday night at 5:30 p.m. at BART MacArthur Station.
Chant is: “Take back / Our streets”#SayHerName Nia Wilson march passed by a homeless camp under the highway bridge. pic.twitter.com/UckeNADlSh — Darwin BondGraham (@DarwinBondGraha) July 24, 2018
Crowds marched through the streets chanting “Take Back Our Streets” and “Justice for Nia.”
Crowds are starting to march through the streets from MacArthur Bart station. #JUSTICEFORNIA #justicefoniaAndLatifah pic.twitter.com/dXz4ZAYNvC — Ale Reid (@ale__reid) July 24, 2018
More than 1,000 people participated in the vigil in her honor.
The #SayHerName Nia Wilson march in Oakland, well over 1000 strong, feels like a mourning procession combined with a militant anti-racist rally. On Telegraph headed toward downtown. pic.twitter.com/AkWXcw4FE2 — Darwin BondGraham (@DarwinBondGraha) July 24, 2018
A mini-gathering was also held. Cat Brooks said, “Say her name! Nia Wilson!”
EMBED >More News Videos John Cowell is accused of killing 18-year-old Nia Wilson and injuring her sister Letifah Wilson at MacArthur BART. He was arrested Monday afternoon at a different BART station in Pleasant Hill.
EMBED >More News Videos Here's everything we know about the attack that claimed the life of 18-year-old Nia Wilson.
CONTINUING COVERAGE ON DEADLY BART STABBING:
The suspect in the double stabbing at MacArthur BART that left one sister dead and another injured is now in police custody. Officers say they followed up on tips from the public and found him on an Antioch-bound train.BART Police Chief Carlos Rojas held a media availability at Rockridge Station. He says the arrest was uneventful and that the suspect was taken into custody without incident.A BART rider on an Antioch-bound train captured the arrest of 27-year-old John Cowell on her cellphone camera. Officers had intercepted the train at the Pleasant Hill BART station after getting tips from the public. The man, wanted for Sunday night's double stabbing, had been at large for nearly 21 hours."They asked him what his name was. He was truthful with the officers in terms of his name and they asked him for identification and he did provide a California identification," said Rojas.The arrest comes as a huge relief for the Bay Area, where the random attack has triggered outrage and protest.Police say Cowell pulled a knife on sisters Nia and Letifah Wilson on the platform of the MacArthur Station just before 9:45 p.m. Sunday night. Nia, 18, died from her stab wounds."I don't know what it was but he was just always kind of a problem," said neighbor Carol Kincaid.She has known Cowell since he was a child. She says he's lived in and out of this Concord home and over the years has been in trouble with the law. In fact, according to our media partners at the East Bay Times, Cowell has an extensive criminal record.Kaiser Medical in Richmond filed a restraining order against him after he was accused of threatening to kill an employee in 2016.Then he was sentenced to prison for robbery and after serving two years, was out on parole four months ago.As to what led to Sunday night's stabbing, police still don't have a motive."We haven't connected him to any type of radical group or white supremacist group or anything like that," Rojas added.
