Bellingham woman who stabbed father to death pleads guilty to murder
A Bellingham woman has pleaded guilty to stabbing her father to death during an argument in late April 2020.
Kali Marie McConnell, 34, pleaded guilty Wednesday, May 26, to second-degree murder in Whatcom County Superior Court for the death of her 57-year-old father, Dale M. Henefin.
McConnell also pleaded guilty to second-degree assault for an unrelated event from mid-March 2020 where McConnell went to her ex-boyfriend’s home and assaulted him and a female friend, court records show.
McConnell was previously charged with first-degree aggravated murder, first-degree murder, second-degree assault and first-degree burglary, court records state. Her charges were lowered as part of a plea deal, the records show.
McConnell’s sentencing for both cases has been scheduled for June 7.
An alleged accomplice, Zachary Ivan Tellez, 30, of Ferndale, is facing charges of first-degree murder and first-degree burglary. He has a jury trial tentatively scheduled for July 19, court records show.
Court records show that McConnell and Tellez arrived at Henefin’s house in the 4700 block of Mission Road at 9:45 p.m. on April 22, 2020. 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 Henefin. During that fight, McConnell went into the kitchen and assaulted the other woman who lived at the home, according to court records. 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 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 Henefin who told her McConnell stabbed him once in the back below his shoulder blade, court records state.
Henefin was taken by ambulance to St. Joseph’s hospital where, despite emergency surgery to repair a punctured lung, he died at approximately 5:40 p.m, the records show.
Henefin’s death was ruled a homicide by the Whatcom County Medical Examiner’s office. An investigation found Henefin died after his brain failed to receive enough oxygen following a single stab wound to the left chest, according to previous reporting in The Bellingham Herald.
