Bail set at $1 million for Bellingham woman accused of stabbing her father to death
Bail was set at $1 million Friday, April 24, in Whatcom County Superior Court for the 33-year-old Bellingham woman accused of stabbing her father to death and assaulting another woman.
Kali Marie McConnell is suspected of first-degree murder and second-degree assault. She was arrested shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday, April 23.
Formal charges are expected to be filed against McConnell by next Tuesday, April 28. Her arraignment is scheduled for May 1.
Whatcom County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Evan Jones said there were “significant concerns about community safety” given the nature of the allegations against McConnell. Jones also said that McConnell was out on $5,000 bail for a previous assault case when she allegedly committed the murder.
“So not only did she exhibit, in the state’s impression, extreme violence in the community, but she violated just about every court order that existed to protect the community,” Jones said.
He asked Whatcom County Superior Court Judge David Freeman to set McConnell’s bail at $1 million.
Whatcom County Chief Deputy Public Defender Maialisa Vanyo said defense had no comment about bail or conditions set if McConnell was released.
Freeman then set McConnell’s bail at $1 million and put a no-contact order in place for the female victim in the case.
The crime
Shortly before 10 p.m. on April 22, Whatcom County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a residence in the 4700 block of Mission Road for the report of a man who had been stabbed. Deputies found a 57-year-old man who had suffered a life-threatening stab wound to the upper torso. He was taken by ambulance to St. Joseph’s hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery, according to a Friday morning sheriff’s office press release.
The man, whose name the sheriff’s office has not yet released, died Thursday around 5:40 p.m. at the hospital after succumbing to his injuries, the release states. An autopsy by the Whatcom County Medical Examiner is scheduled for Monday.
Detectives determined that the man’s daughter, identified as McConnell, and her male friend Zachary I. Tellez, 29, of Ferndale, went to the Mission Road residence for a visit around 9:45 p.m. Wednesday. During the visit, an argument between Tellez and McConnell’s father began. McConnell also allegedly assaulted a 53-year-old woman who also lived at her father’s residence. McConnell allegedly punched the woman in the face, which knocked her tooth out, and then dragged her by her hair out of the residence and told her to leave, the press release states.
McConnell also allegedly stole the woman’s phone, then went back inside the residence and allegedly stabbed her father once in the upper torso, the release states.
Less than 10 minutes after they arrived, McConnell and Tellez fled the scene in a late model silver Cadillac sedan. Once McConnell and Tellez left, the female victim went back inside the residence and found McConnell’s father “in a pool of blood, asking for help and stating that his daughter had stabbed him,” the press release states.
On Thursday afternoon, Tellez was found in Whatcom County and voluntarily went to the sheriff’s office where he was questioned about the incident. Tellez was later released, the press release states.
Around 4:30 p.m. Thursday, deputies and detectives with the sheriff’s office were led to a residence in Arlington. With help from the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, McConnell was arrested without incident and taken back to Whatcom County. The vehicle McConnell was driving was also found at the Arlington residence and was impounded to be searched later by the sheriff’s office, the release states.
During an interview with the sheriff’s office, McConnell allegedly admitted to stabbing her father during the argument.
In court Friday, Jones said he expected Tellez to be charged as a co-defendant in the murder case. He expects to charge Tellez with first-degree murder, Jones said Friday.
McConnell was already scheduled to have a first appearance and arraignment in Superior Court on May 1 for the charges of first-degree burglary, second-degree assault (substantial bodily harm), second-degree theft and fourth-degree assault. The case stems from an incident in mid-March where McConnell allegedly went to her ex-boyfriend’s home and assaulted him and a female friend, court records show.
McConnell was arrested for the incident on March 20, and was released from the Whatcom County Jail on March 22 on $5,000 bail.
This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 4:01 PM.
