John Cowell, 27, a recently paroled robber with a violent history was arrested without incidence on an Antioch-bound train Monday night a few miles from the Oakland station where investigators believe he stabbed and killed 18-year-old Nia Wilson leaving her sister, Letifah Wilson, 26, injured in an unprovoked knife attack.
Cowell stabbed Nia Wilson twice in the neck and then attacked her sister before fleeing and apparently removing his pants and sweatshirt to evade capture, Rojas said. The knife believed to have been used in the attack was found at a nearby construction site.
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police Chief Carlos Rojas said:
"This is the first step to achieving justice for Nia and her family"
Letifah Wilson said she, Nia and a third sister had been returning from a family outing when they were "blindsided by a maniac."
"He didn't know us, we didn't know him."
"I looked back and he was wiping off his knife and stood at the stairs and just looked. From then on, I was caring for my sister."
The women's father, Ansar Muhammad, said:
"It's nothing imaginable, seeing your child on the BART platform with a yellow tarp over her body. That is an image I'll never forget for the rest of my life. So I want justice. All I want is justice."
CCTV footage on the train and at the station's platform showed Cowell had been riding the same car as the sisters but did not interact with them, Rojas said.
A motive for the attack remained unclear. Rojas said Cowell hasn't been connected to any radical or white supremacist groups, although he added:
"We are going to explore all options and all possibilities."
The victims were black and Cowell is white.
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