Two people were arrested for the murder of a Michigan soldier, and one of them was the soldier’s wife.
Tyrone Hassel III was shot and killed in St. Joseph Township on New Year’s Eve. The 23-year-old was on leave for the holidays.
A male suspect was also arrested in connection with the shooting.
The suspected motivation for Hassel’s murder isn’t clear but Berrien County Prosecutor Mike Sepic indicated he'd release more information on Jan. 14.
Shooting on NYE
When Hassel was shot just after 11 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, he had left a gathering to take a plate of food to his wife, Hassel’s father, Tyrone Hassel Jr., told WWMT.“I told him to hurry up back. because I didn’t want him out there at midnight,” said Hassel Jr.
But shortly after leaving the house, he was shot.
“He came back out the house and somebody shot him,” said Hassel Jr. “I don’t know if somebody followed him.”
Hassel’s added that his son initially planned to leave Michigan on Jan. 2 “but his wife’s birthday is on January 3rd, so they decided they would stay for a couple of extra days.”
“I don’t know nobody who hate my son, he had no enemies,” he added.
Hassel
According to the slain soldier’s obituary, he enlisted in the United States Army in 2015 after being part of the ROTC in high school and studying Mechanical Engineering at Grand Valley State University.The obituary said that Hassel “met and fell in love with Specialist Kemia Martin” while they were both serving the country. They were married in May 2017 and had one child together. The family resided in Hinesville, Georgia.
“Tyrone was a devoted husband, father, son, brother, and soldier,” the obituary stated.
“He had a jovial personality and loved having a good time, whether he was playing pool, basketball, baseball or taking care of his dogs. Tyrone enjoyed spending time with his family and friends, he had a true zeal for life.”
Crime Drops
The FBI said that both violent crime and property crime decreased in 2017, the last year that full statistics are available for, compared to 2016.“There were more than 1.2 million violent crimes reported to UCR nationwide in 2017. There was a 0.7 percent decrease in murders and a 4 percent decrease in robberies from 2016 to 2017. Aggravated assaults increased 1 percent in 2017. The FBI began collecting data solely on an updated rape definition last year, and 135,755 rapes were reported to law enforcement in 2017,” the FBI stated.
“The report also showed there were more than 7.7 million property crimes last year. Burglaries decreased 7.6 percent and larceny-thefts decreased 2.2 percent. Motor vehicle thefts increased by 0.8 percent from 2016 to 2017.”
The figures were compiled from more than 13,000 law enforcement agencies around the United States that submitted their crime data to the FBI.
