(Two black teens were stabbed on a Oakland Bart platform on Sunday, July 22, 2018. (Photo credit: Sammie7993, Wikimedia Commons) )
“Please help me get justice for my daughter,” Ansar Mohammed pleaded on KTVU. “I watch this on TV but I never imagined this happening to me.”
A passenger on BART, the public transportation system in the San Francisco Bay Area, fatally stabbed Mohammed’s 18-year-old daughter Nia Wilson in the neck at around 9:45 p.m. on Sunday and wounded her older sister as they exited a train at a stop near downtown Oakland, according to SFGate.
Nia Wilson was pronounced dead at the scene, and her sister was taken to a nearby hospital.
Nia Wilson was murdered last night at MacArthur @SFBART station in Oakland, CA by a white male still st large. Where is the security footage? Where are his photos & why aren’t they being plastered everywhere? What is BART going to do? #sayhername #niawilson #justiceforniawilson pic.twitter.com/gk1UXQX8Gv
— vegan ice water (@veganwaterpls) July 23, 2018
The attack appeared to be random, according to witnesses. The suspect fled and remains at large was arrested Monday night.
The suspect is 27-year-old John Lee Cowell, a white man who was recently released from prison.
According to BART officials, both the victims and the suspect boarded a train in Concord, a Bay Area suburb. Cowell reportedly followed the sisters off the train and attacked them on the platform.
Malika Harris identified the victim who died as her 18-year-old sister. Harris created a GoFundMe campaign Monday and raised over $3,500 in the first five hours.
Several relatives gathered at the station Sunday evening to mourn Wilson.
“She needs her justice … she was just an innocent kid, and she didn’t deserve this,” Ebony Monroe, a cousin of the victims, told SFGate. “And he did this for no reason.”
Monroe described Nia Wilson as a “beautiful, sweet person” who loved fashion and makeup.
Activist Shaun King, Singer Kehlani, and more have joined in the effort to find the suspect. Some called out BART for not finding and releasing photos of the suspect sooner.
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
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
Ok @SFBART, since as of 2017 all the BART cameras are meant to be real, why haven't we seen a picture of the man who murdered Nia Wilson? "Heavyset white man in his 20-30's" describes half of Silicon Valley.https://t.co/2jaAOBG2zO#NiaWilson #SayHerName
— EricaJoy (@EricaJoy) July 23, 2018
Every second that @SFBART withholds the suspect's photo actually benefits the suspect and puts more people in danger. #JusticeforNia #NIAWILSON https://t.co/6ZcZYX38GE
— kerina (@sassybrow) July 23, 2018
Teens in a cave far away dominated the news. Where are the stories about #niawilson, black teen stabbed by a white man in Oakland, CA?
— Dennis Fischman (@DennisFischman) July 23, 2018