In the early hours of October 10, 2015, a visit to a girlfriend in Omaha, Nebraska, took a tragic turn for 26-year-old Malquan King, a Black male from Indiana. King and his friend, 23-year-old Arelius Hassell, were on a road trip to Las Vegas where Hassell, a rapper, was reportedly going to sign a music contract. They made a stop at the home of King's girlfriend, Tommynique Valentine, located at 4511 Curtis Avenue. Traveling with them was a 53-year-old man from their hometown, Michael A.
Nolt.
Shortly after their 2:00 a.m. arrival, violence erupted inside the residence. Nolt, who was an acquaintance of both King and Hassell, opened fire. Hassell was shot and killed in the front room. King was tragically shot and killed in a bedroom closet where he had sought refuge with Valentine. Valentine was also shot in the leg but survived by pretending to be dead. Miraculously, her six children, who were also in the house at the time of the shooting, were unharmed. After the shootings, Nolt fled the scene in the white Chevrolet Impala the trio had been traveling in.
The investigation quickly zeroed in on Michael Nolt as the primary suspect. An arrest warrant was issued charging him with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder. A few days later, on October 13, U.S. Marshals apprehended Nolt in Mesa, Arizona. Authorities stated that the motive for the killings was a botched robbery, as Nolt had intended to steal a significant amount of cash from Hassell.
In October 2016, a jury convicted Michael Nolt of the first-degree murder of Malquan King and manslaughter in the death of Arelius Hassell. He was also found guilty of weapons charges. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison plus an additional 126 to 140 years. During the trial, it was revealed that Nolt had an extensive criminal history. The Nebraska Supreme Court later upheld his convictions.
