A stranded driver found himself quickly facing murder charges after asking police for a jump, a mistake that led them to find a bullet-riddled body in his vehicle.
Jihad Gasaway, 23, was arrested on Tuesday after he pulled into a ditch on Interstate 80 in Iowa, where patrol officers found him trying to restart his car.
An arrest report claims ‘after an initial investigation’, Gasaway produced a handgun from his pocket, which led to a search of his vehicle.
Under a layer of dirty clothes in the passenger seat vehicle, cops discovered the body of Kemp Harriel, 26, who was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering multiple gunshot wounds.
Jihad Gasaway, 23, is facing first-degree murder charges after a body was found in his broken-down car when police gave him a jump start
Kemp Harriel, 26, was discovered in the passenger side of Gasaway’s car under dirty clothes. An autopsy determined he died as a result of two gunshot wounds fired at close range, and the death was ruled a homicide
Gasaway’s broken down Chevrolet Malibu was first reported in a ditch at around 6am. He asked police to help jump-start his car, and told them about the handgun.
The search led to the discovery of Harriel, and Gasaway was taken into custody. Police put him in an Iowa State trooper’s car, where he cops say he repeatedly pleaded: ‘Please be okay.’
Under questioning with the Poweskiek County Sheriff’s Office, Gasaway told officers he covered Harriel because he ‘thought he was very cold.’
‘(I) kept him warm because we were both cold, I just waited for police,’ he said, according to the arrest report.
‘I didn’t know (victim) was gone until I watched the police eyes and read his lips that’s when I started crying in the car. He was alive and talking to me.’
Officers noted that despite his insistence, Gasaway ‘did not notify anyone of the male subject inside the vehicle’, ‘did not call 911 to request medical assistance’, and did not tell troopers about Harriel until they found his body.
The grisly discovery came after Gasaway’s car broke down on the side of the road on Interstate 80 in Iowa, where he asked troopers to help him jump-start it
Tributes have poured in for Harriel following his tragic death, where friends described him as always making ‘sure everyone had a good time’ and was the ‘life of the party’
When he was asked if Harriel was alive when the car went into the ditch, Gasaway claimed he was, and coldly responded that the two men had ‘got into it.’
Investigators later determined the shooting happened on the passenger side of the vehicle, finding a 9mm shell casing in the front floorboard and two bullets inside the front passenger door.
Examinations of the shell casing also found that it had been fired by the same gun found on Gasaway, per the arrest report.
In an autopsy the next day, it was found that Harriel died as a result of two gunshot wounds fired at close range, and the death was ruled a homicide.
Gasaway was initially only charged with abuse of a corpse, before the death was ruled as a homicide. He was charged with first-degree murder on October 5.
Harriel’s friend Alexus Mae paid a heartbreaking remembrance post to the 26-year-old, saying he ‘did not deserve’ the grisly death
Harriel was remembered by many as a fun-loving person, with a fundraiser set up to pay for his funeral costs saying he was the ‘type of person who made it his mission to make you smile’
Tributes have poured in for Harriel following his death, with friend Alexus Mae posting on social media that he ‘did not deserve this.’
‘I am having such a hard time processing this,’ she wrote.
‘You were always so kind hearted and genuine always kept it 100 with me. One thing for sure you made sure everyone had a good time around you and you were always the life of the party. You will forever be missed and loved! RIP Kemp.’
A GoFundMe has also been created by his loved ones to help pay for funeral costs, which noted that he was ‘loved by many.’
‘He left his mark on anyone who ever met him. The most giving and kind soul always looked out for his loved ones and his friends,’ the fundraiser continued.
‘He was someone that cherished relationships and showed out. The type of person who made it his mission to make you smile.’
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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