Bail lowered for alleged accomplice in Whatcom County stabbing death
A 29-year-old Ferndale man who was reportedly with a Bellingham woman accused of fatally stabbing her father last week had his bail lowered to $250,000 Monday, April 27, in Whatcom County Superior Court.
Zachary Ivan Tellez is accused of first-degree murder and first-degree burglary. He turned himself in to authorities Friday, April 24. Formal charges are expected to be filed against Tellez later this week.
Kali Marie McConnell, 33, is accused of first-degree murder for the death of her 57-year-old father. She’s also accused of second-degree assault for beating a 53-year-old woman who lives at her father’s home.
McConnell’s father’s name has not yet been released by the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office. An autopsy was scheduled for Monday, April 27.
McConnell is currently incarcerated in Whatcom County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail. Her arraignment is scheduled for May 1.
Tellez’s bail was set at $500,000 over the weekend. In court Monday, Whatcom County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Gordon Jenkins asked Whatcom County Superior Court Judge Rob Olson to keep the bail amount the same.
Jenkins said Tellez allegedly showed up intoxicated to McConnell’s father’s house, quickly got into an argument with McConnell’s father and began to hit him in the face. Jenkins said there’s a dispute over whether Tellez used his fists or a baton he had with him to hit McConnell’s father. Jenkins also said that Tellez allegedly told McConnell’s father that he would kill him.
Jenkins said that at some point during this incident, McConnell allegedly stabbed her father, causing his death. He said the prosecution had a high degree of concern that Tellez posed “a severe risk of violence to the community” if he were released on bail, and that Tellez may tamper with physical evidence still being collected by the sheriff’s office.
“This was an incident that began swiftly and was extremely violent from the beginning to the very end,” Jenkins said.
Jeffrey Lustick, Tellez’s defense attorney, said Tellez has been in Whatcom County his entire life and that he has “extensive” familial, social and business ties to the community. Lustick said there’s no evidence that Tellez was present in the same room when McConnell allegedly fatally stabbed her father, and that he didn’t know that was going to happen.
Lustick said Tellez has been cooperative with the sheriff’s office throughout the case, including helping lead authorities to McConnell after they both fled. He also said that Tellez didn’t learn McConnell’s father had been stabbed until she allegedly confessed to him as the pair were leaving her father’s house.
Lustick said Tellez also has medical needs that aren’t being met at the jail, and that can’t be met at the jail due to COVID-19. He said that if Tellez is incarcerated, then they will likely have to ask the court for a medical release. Lustick asked the judge to set bail at $100,000.
“The idea or notion that Mr. Tellez is going to somehow disrupt justice or be a threat to the case is completely unfounded,” Lustick said.
Olson set bail at $250,000, and also put in place no-contact orders between the female victim in the case and between Tellez and McConnell.
The crime
Court records show that Tellez and McConnell arrived at McConnell’s father’s house in the 4700 block of Mission Road at 9:45 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22. The pair had gone there to get painkillers for Tellez.
A woman who also lived at McConnell’s father’s home arrived shortly after Tellez and McConnell, and heard yelling coming from inside.
An argument that began over a cigarette evolved into a physical fight between Tellez and McConnell’s father. During that fight, McConnell allegedly went into the kitchen and assaulted the other woman who lived at the home. McConnell then dragged the woman out of the house by her hair, and told her to leave. The woman was able to get in her car, back down the driveway and call 911, according to court records.
McConnell also got into a fight with her father, and at some point allegedly stabbed him, the records show. McConnell then got into a car with Tellez and said “Get … in, I stabbed him,” before the pair drove off at a high rate of speed, the court records state.
When the woman went back inside the house, she found McConnell’s father who told her McConnell stabbed him once in the back below his shoulder blade, court records state.
McConnell’s father was taken by ambulance to St. Joseph’s hospital.
He died at around 5:40 p.m. Thursday after succumbing to his injuries.
