Betrayal, Murder, and a $400K Payout: The Chilling Case of Army Sergeant Tyrone Hassel III
“I Need Help—My Husband Was Shot!”
The frantic 911 call rang out on New Year’s Eve 2018. A distraught woman begged for help, her voice shaking with panic. Her husband, U.S. Army Sergeant Tyrone Hassel III, lay motionless in the driveway of his father’s Michigan home, riddled with bullets.
But behind those desperate cries was a dark truth: the woman on the phone—his wife, Kemia Hassel—was the mastermind behind his brutal murder.
This was not a crime of passion or a robbery gone wrong. It was a cold, calculated execution plotted by Kemia and her secret lover, fellow soldier Jeremy Cuellar. Their motive? A forbidden romance and a $400,000 life insurance payout.
A Fatal Love Triangle
The young couple, both active-duty soldiers, were home on leave for the holidays with their nearly two-year-old son. While Tyrone spent time with family, Kemia was secretly orchestrating his murder, feeding information to Cuellar about her husband’s whereabouts.
Cuellar, also stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia, had been in a covert relationship with Kemia since they served in South Korea. They dreamed of a future together—one that did not include Tyrone. But to make that dream a reality, Tyrone had to die.
Using Snapchat to evade detection, Kemia and Cuellar meticulously planned the ambush. Cuellar traveled to Michigan four times, failing to follow through each time. But on December 31, 2018, as Tyrone returned from a family gathering with food for his wife, Cuellar finally pulled the trigger.
The Investigation Unravels a Sinister Plot
For 11 days, Kemia played the grieving widow. But a tip led investigators straight to her and Cuellar, unearthing a web of deceit and betrayal. When confronted, Kemia shockingly confessed on tape: “I’m just as guilty as he is.”
During his own interrogation, Cuellar admitted to Tyrone’s father, Tyrone Hassel Jr., that he hesitated multiple times before carrying out the murder. “It took me at least six times,” he admitted during a chilling jailhouse conversation.
The remorse was too little, too late.
Justice Comes Swiftly
Kemia Hassel, unwilling to face the stand, was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy, sentenced to life without parole. Cuellar, after pleading guilty to second-degree murder, received a 65- to 90-year prison term.
But even behind bars, the story wasn’t over. Cuellar later tried to withdraw his guilty plea, a move that left Tyrone’s father disgusted. “It’s like a slap in the face,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kemia attempted to claim she was a victim of ‘battered woman syndrome’—a defense swiftly shut down by Tyrone’s father, who vehemently denied any history of abuse.
“You Thought You’d Live Happily Ever After?”
In a moment of cold irony, Tyrone’s father confronted Cuellar with a question that echoed through the courtroom: “After all that, you all thought that you all could live happily ever after?”
For Kemia and Cuellar, their twisted love story ended behind bars. But for Tyrone’s family, the pain remains—a reminder of how love, when poisoned by greed and betrayal, can turn deadly.
