On December 31, 2018, Kemia Hassel made a distressing 911 call, claiming her husband Tyrone had been shot – but the truth behind the call revealed a deadly love affair and an even more sinister murder plot.
Sergeant Tyrone Hassel III’s murder – and the plot to kill him – are the subject of Love. Honor. Betray., an ABC 20/20 episode airing on Friday, February 16, 2024, available to stream the following day on Hulu.
All about Kemia Hassel
Kemia Hassel, born Kemia Martin, was a US Army Specialist. She met her husband, Tyrone Hassell III, while they were both serving in the Army. The duo met at Fort Carson in Colorado in 2015. Shortly after, the couple got engaged, and eventually married in 2016.
By the end of 2018, all seemed to be going well for the young couple. They had recently welcomed a son together and they were both on block leave from Fort Stewart in Georgia.
The couple had been staying at Tyrone’s father’s house in St. Joseph Township, Michigan when everything changed.
On New Year’s Eve 2018, Tyrone was gunned down in his driveway.
Kemia, seemingly distraught, called 911 at around 11 pm. “I need help. My husband was shot,” she said, adding: “I need help.” But the grieving wife wasn’t as innocent as she seemed. After being brought in for questioning, Kemia failed a polygraph test and eventually broke down and confessed to planning the murder.
All about Jeremy Cuellar
In a shocking twist, investigators discovered that Kemia Hassel had orchestrated her husband’s murder – with the help of her secret lover. Just days after Tyrone was murdered, investigators received an anonymous tip that led them to another Fort Stewart soldier, Jeremy Cuellar.
Jeremy Cuellar had allegedly confessed his affair – and the murder – to one of his soldier friends, who came forward with the truth. Cuellar claimed that he had shot Hassel multiple times, including in the head and abdomen, to ensure that he was dead. The shots he described matched the bullet wounds on Tyrone’s body.
As for why the duo committed the plot in the first place? Love – and money. Cuellar and Kemia had orchestrated the entire event to keep their relationship going and to secure a hefty life insurance policy from Tyrone. The policy was reportedly worth nearly half-a-million dollars.
Where are Kemia Hassel and Jeremy Cuellar now?
Jeremy Cuellar pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on July 30, 2019, and was sentenced to 65 to 90 years in prison. Cuellar later requested to withdraw the guilty plea, but the Michigan Supreme Court denied to hear his case in 2021.
Kemia Hassel was found guilty of conspiracy and first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2019. She is currently housed at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Pittsfield Charter Township, Michigan.
She has reportedly begun seeking a retrial, claiming that she was a victim of Battered Woman Syndrome.
Tyrone’s father, Tyrone Jr., denies that his son was ever capable of violence against anyone, let alone his wife. Kamia and Tyrone Hassel’s son, Tyrone Hassel IV, lives with her mother. Tyrone Jr. and his wife, Tyrone’s stepmother, Ashanti Hassel, communicate with their grandson via FaceTime.
“I would like him to know that his father was a good man and his father loved him very dearly,” Tyrone Jr. said.
