In early July of 2018, a grim discovery was made in Mukilteo, Washington, when a person walking their dog stumbled upon the body of a young man at an abandoned house. The victim was identified as 22-year-old Ezekiel M. Kelly of Everett. An autopsy would later reveal the brutal nature of his death; he had been stabbed 27 times and shot three times in the head. The cause of death was officially ruled a homicide due to homicidal violence.
This discovery was the second part of a violent saga that had begun days earlier.
The investigation into Kelly's murder quickly connected to another homicide that occurred on July 1, 2018. The body of 21-year-old Mohamed H. Adan of Seattle was found in the brush at Blue Stilly Park near Arlington. Adan had been shot seven times, and his body showed signs of torture, including being bound with an electrical cord, beaten with a baseball bat, and burned with cigarettes. Investigators determined that the two victims knew each other and that their murders were linked, perpetrated by the same group of individuals.
The violence that led to the deaths of Ezekiel Kelly and Mohamed Adan reportedly escalated over accusations of "snitching" and a dispute involving a girlfriend. According to court documents, the suspects believed one of the victims had reported a protection-order violation. This led to a chain of events that resulted in the torture and murder of both young men.
Authorities arrested three suspects in connection with the double homicide. The individuals taken into custody were 18-year-old Anthony Hernandez-Cano, 20-year-old Hassani H. Hassani, and a 21-year-old woman. Hernandez-Cano was implicated in both murders, while Hassani was specifically accused in the death of Ezekiel Kelly. The investigation revealed that Hernandez-Cano allegedly stabbed Kelly multiple times before handing the gun to Hassani, who then shot him. A car belonging to Hernandez-Cano's girlfriend was reportedly used in both killings, and surveillance footage near Blue Stilly Park captured the vehicle's license plate, which ultimately led investigators to the suspects.
