Friends and family mourn the death of Nia Wilson, the 18-year-old girl who was viciously stabbed to death by an attacker while she and her sister were leaving the train station in Oakland, California.
The two sisters we leaving the train Sunday night when a white male identified as 27-year-old transient John Lee Cowell approached the girls and quickly stabbed Nia and her sister Lahtifa Wilson, 26, both in the neck, police said. The older sister was hospitalized overnight.
“In my close to 30 years of police experience, it was probably one of the most vicious attacks that I’ve seen,” BART Police Chief Carlos Rojas said at a news conference Monday.
Cowell was captured on another BART train about 6:30 p.m. Monday, after at least two passengers tipped off police that they had spotted the suspected killer.
Police Chief Rojas said investigators will interview Cowell soon, but to date still have no details on a potential motive for the crime. Rojas said there was no evidence to support suggestions that the crime was race-related, but police haven’t taken the possibility off the table ruled it out just yet.
Hundreds of people gathered for a vigil Monday evening at MacArthur BART Station, bringing flowers, candles and incense. Some held signs demanding justice for the two sisters.
Daryle Allums, Nia Wilson’s godfather and leader of Oakland’s Stop Killing Our Kids group, said Wilson’s death had shaken up the whole town. He addressed concerns that the attack might be racially motivated and urges the African American community to “stand down right now” and avoid jumping to conclusions.
“We don’t know if this was racist,” Allums said. “Let’s get this information to find out what really happened. Let’s find out the right facts to then be able to deal with this situation.”
The family of Nia Wilson believes her killing was the result of a hate crime and they want the person responsible for her death to pay. Cowell is a convicted felon with a history of violent crimes. The slaying of Nia Wilson was the third possible homicide connected to BART in just five days. According SFgate.com
In May 2016, Cowell was convicted of felony second-degree robbery, according to court records. That year, a Kaiser hospital in Richmond obtained a restraining order against him after he allegedly repeatedly harassed and threatened staff members with physical harm.
Cowell was homeless and would often show up in the emergency department and make “rather specific” threats, said Jason Curliano, an attorney who represents the hospital.
A separate restraining order was filed against Cowell in 2015, but the circumstances were not immediately available.
Cowell was previously convicted of battery in June 2013, and of being under the influence of a controlled substance in March 2016. Both those incidents happened in Walnut Creek.
He also had several misdemeanor infractions of vandalism, petty theft and possession of a controlled substance on his record, according to Alameda County court records.
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Nia’s death is creating a lot of social media attention. Several people touched by her death have created hashtag #JusticeForNia. Nia’s family have set up a GoFundMe page with a goal of raising $9,000. As of print deadline Monday, more than $24,000 have been raised.
