Teen’s slaying was BART’s third possible homicide in five days

Nia Wilson, 18, was the victim of a fatal stabbing Sunday night at the MacArthur BART station in Oakland, family members told The Chronicle. Nia Wilson, 18, was the victim of a fatal stabbing Sunday night at the MacArthur BART station in Oakland, family members told The Chronicle. Photo: Courtesy Of Nia Wilson’s Family Photo: Courtesy Of Nia Wilson’s Family Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Teen’s slaying was BART’s third possible homicide in five days 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

The stabbing Sunday night on a BART platform in Oakland that killed an 18-year-old woman and injured her older sister was the third possible homicide on the transit system in five days, but agency officials did not immediately alert the public about the first two cases.

The previous incidents, which occurred Saturday and Wednesday and left two men dead, were disclosed Monday after The Chronicle began asking about them. The agency has in the past been criticized for withholding information about crimes on trains and in stations.

BART Police Chief Carlos Rojas said in an interview that his department had not been in a position to talk about the prior two cases until Sunday. That’s when the first victim’s autopsy linked his death to injuries from an altercation on BART, and when the second victim died in a hospital, Rojas said.

“There was no delay,” the chief said.

At a news conference Monday, he said, “We just wanted to make sure that we were giving you all the information and being as transparent as possible. ... Because, this is really an anomaly. This doesn’t happen on BART. It’s rare that we have a homicide, so of course this is ramped up to the highest priority when you have three deaths.”

The Chronicle learned of the prior incidents after Sunday’s slaying of teenager Nia Wilson at the MacArthur Station. According to BART, 27-year-old John Lee Cowell attacked her and her sister, 26-year-old Lahtifa Wilson, at 9:36 p.m. in a “random,” unprovoked attack as they stepped off a train to transfer. Cowell and the women had boarded the train in Concord.

Nia Wilson was pronounced dead at the scene, while her sister was rushed to a hospital, where she was in stable condition Monday. Police said they took Cowell into custody Monday at the Pleasant Hill BART Station after receiving a tip from a passenger. He was arrested on an Antioch-bound train.

BART said the stabbing had no connection to an incident that occurred just after 1 a.m. Saturday, when a man riding BART at Bay Fair Station in San Leandro was punched by an assailant, causing him to fall and fatally strike his head on the pavement outside the train car.

The victim, identified by BART as 47-year-old Don Stevens, a transient, was pronounced dead at a hospital on Sunday with his family present, Rojas said. Police initially thought Stevens might have fallen due to a medical problem, but saw the attack on surveillance video.

The agency on Sunday released surveillance images of the assailant to other law enforcement agencies in a “be-on-the-lookout” bulletin, and released the same images publicly on Monday. The attacker is wanted for murder.

BART installed working cameras on all trains after The Chronicle revealed in January 2016, in the wake of a fatal shooting on a BART train, that most of the cameras on trains were decoys.

Earlier Monday, the Alameda County coroner’s office declined to provide Stevens’ name, saying BART had asked that the information be withheld from the public.

In the potential third homicide on BART, a man who was involved in an altercation Wednesday afternoon at a station in Pleasant Hill was found dead Friday night in his bed at his Pittsburg home, authorities said. The victim was 51-year-old Gerald Bisbee, according to the Contra Costa County coroner’s office.

BART said Bisbee was attacked by a 20-year-old man named Abdul Bey, who was quickly arrested and has been jailed in Martinez since. Bisbee, who suffered a bloody lip and small cut to the back of his knee, did not initially seek medical treatment, officials said.

He felt bad the next day, though, and visited a hospital, which treated and released him, BART said. On Friday, Bisbee’s loved ones grew concerned that they hadn’t heard from him and asked police to check on his welfare. That’s when he was found dead.

Bisbee died from an infection from the cut on his leg, Rojas said, a determination the chief said was made after an autopsy Sunday. He said BART was “working with the (Contra Costa County) district attorney’s office to make sure” the evidence supports homicide charges. Bey was jailed on suspicion of battery and resisting arrest as well as on a $15,000 warrant.

BART officials noted that Bey’s arrest was reported on a daily log that the agency distributes to reporters and others.

BART’s transparency about crime on the system has been questioned before. For instance, the agency did not reveal the depth of its problem with fare evasion, or announce that a mob of juveniles had staged a 2017 takeover robbery of a train car, until The Chronicle reported on them.

In June 2017, when its police force stopped emailing the daily logs reporting crime activity, the press and public demanded the practice continue. The agency changed course within weeks.

Michael Cabanatuan, Megan Cassidy and Demian Bulwa are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com, megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com, dbulwa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan @meganrcassidy @demianbulwa