PICTURED: Violent felon on parole, 27, wanted for fatal train stabbing of girl, 18

Police in Northern California have identified the suspect in a deadly train stabbing late Sunday as a 27-year-old violent felon on parole.

Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Chief Carlos Rojas released a mugshot and surveillance photos of John Lee Cowell who struck 18-year-old Nia Wilson to death in a horror knife attack that has been described as a ‘random and unprovoked’ incident.

The victim’s 20-year-old sister, Latifa Wilson, was also injured and hospitalized in stable condition after the attack that took place at MacArthur Station of the Oakland Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).

Surveillance footage shows Cowell at the time he ‘rapidly struck’ the two young women as they departed the train. Shortly after, the suspect was spotted as he fled the scene and changed into new clothes.

Police found a bloody knife at the scene shortly after that was believed to be used in the attack.  

Both victims are black and the suspect is white. Authorities have not determined a motive for the attack and have no evidence suggesting it was racially motivated.

Nia Wilson, 18 (pictured), has died and her 20-year-old sister has been hospitalized after both women were stabbed at an Oakland Bay Area Rapid Transit station on Sunday

The left photo released Monday, July 23, 2018, by Bay Area Rapid Transit shows John Lee Cowell, 27, a suspect wanted in the stabbings of two women at a BART station in Oakland, California. The victim who died, Nia Wilson, 18, is pictured right on Facebook

Bay Area police released new surveillance photos that show the sole suspect Cowell

Bay Area police released new surveillance photos that show the sole suspect Cowell

The wanted suspect in the Sunday attack is a violent felon on parole. He is seen above wearing different attire

The wanted suspect in the Sunday attack is a violent felon on parole. He is seen above wearing different attire

‘Up to this point we don’t have any information that was race-motivated, but we can’t discard it,’ Rojas said. 

Further investigation is currently underway.  

The father of the two women talked with KTVU in a brief, emotional interview, after he was called to the scene.

‘I want justice for my daughter,’ he said, with his eyes welling up with tears, seemingly in disbelief. 

‘I want justice for my daughter. Please help me get justice for my daughter.’ 

A man, who told the San Francisco Gate he was present when the attack occurred, said he was turned away from the sisters when he heard noise behind him.

Then he saw one of the women bleeding from her back, and witnessed the suspect ‘poking’ the other sister.

There was no audible confrontation between the sisters and the suspect, prior to the attack he said.  

The father of the two women (pictured) talked with KTVU in a brief, emotional interview, after he was called to the scene, pleading for 'justice for my daughter' with tears in his eyes

The father of the two women (pictured) talked with KTVU in a brief, emotional interview, after he was called to the scene, pleading for ‘justice for my daughter’ with tears in his eyes

The attack occurred at MacArthur station (pictured), which reopened after the incident at 4.00am on Monday

The attack occurred at MacArthur station (pictured), which reopened after the incident at 4.00am on Monday

‘I work at Highland Hospital, I see this every single day,’ the father said, with tears streaming down his face.

‘I never imagined myself going through nothing like this,’ he said. ‘That’s my baby girl laying up there.’ 

He went on to describe the confusion he experienced when he got the phone call on Sunday night that something terrible had happened. 

‘My daughter called me, crying hysterically, I couldn’t understand what she was talking about. She told me to get here to MacArthur park,’ he said.

‘I get here, I see all the police and ambulance and I run up the platform, and I see my youngest daughter laying up under a tarp, dead, you know?’

Police said the attack appeared to be ‘random’ with no motive immediately apparent. 

'She needs her justice,' Monroe said of Wilson (pictured), adding, 'She was just an innocent kid, and she didn’t deserve this. And he did this for no reason'

‘She needs her justice,’ Monroe said of Wilson (pictured), adding, ‘She was just an innocent kid, and she didn’t deserve this. And he did this for no reason’

The victims' cousin, Ebony Monroe, said Wilson was a 'beautiful, sweet person' who loved her cousins, makeup and fashion

The victims’ cousin, Ebony Monroe, said Wilson was a ‘beautiful, sweet person’ who loved her cousins, makeup and fashion

The two women have at least one other sister, named Malika Harris, who confirmed the identity of Wilson (pictured here); Wilson attended Oakland High School

The two women have at least one other sister, named Malika Harris, who confirmed the identity of Wilson (pictured here); Wilson attended Oakland High School

Police initially described the attacker as a heavyset male standing about five-feet-nine-inches tall with short blonde hair

Police initially described the attacker as a heavyset male standing about five-feet-nine-inches tall with short blonde hair

Wilson’s 20-year-old sister was in stable condition at the time she was taken to the hospital on Sunday night, authorities told CBS. 

The two women have at least one other sister, named Malika Harris, who confirmed the identity of Wilson.

Wilson attended Oakland High School, Harris said.

On Sunday, family members gathered together at MacArthur station, embracing and crying, as police worked to recover whatever evidence they could at the train stop.

The victims’ cousin, Ebony Monroe, said Wilson was a ‘beautiful, sweet person’ who loved her cousins, makeup and fashion. 

‘She needs her justice,’ Monroe said. ‘She was just an innocent kid, and she didn’t deserve this. And he did this for no reason.’ 

The station reopened at 4.00am Pacific on Monday, BART spokesperson Jim Allison said.

It had been closed since 9.45pm Pacific on Sunday, as police began their investigation into the attack.



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