Alleged accomplice in death of Olivia Mackay says Daniel Tate strangled her after meeting her online
KENOSHA COUNTY -- Charges have been filed against the alleged accomplice in the death of 17-year-old Olivia Mackay. Prosecutors say Mackay met one of the suspects in this case online, and picked him and another man up in her vehicle. It would be the last time she was seen alive.
Jamari Cook
17-year-old Jamari Cook of Kenosha faces one count of hiding a corpse as party to a crime, and one count of taking and driving a vehicle without consent, as party to a crime. He may not have killed Mackay, but prosecutors say he helped hide her body.
Mackay's body was discovered in Mount Pleasant on July 24th, on Louis Sorenson Road. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be strangulation. She was the subject of a missing person's report after she failed to show up to work.
A criminal complaint indicates investigators spoke with Jamari Cook on August 4th. He indicated he was staying with 19-year-old Daniel Tate on July 23rd, and they were staying at his grandmother's home on Sheridan Road. Cook said Tate "meets a lot of girls online," and he had arranged to meet up with a girl later identified as Mackay on July 23rd.
NOTE: Daniel Tate has not yet been formally charged. Kenosha police on Friday, August 4th identified Tate as a suspect in this case, and said he was arrested on August 3rd, along with Cook. He remains in custody on a bail jumping charge.
Daniel Tate
On July 23rd, Cook said Mackay picked up Tate and Cook and they drove down by the "Band Shell" near 35th Street and 7th Avenue in Kenosha, before heading down to Racine, eventually returning to the Band Shell. They then walked down by the lake.
Cook said Tate and Mackay were hugging, and he "gave them some space." The complaint indicates Cook later saw Tate choking Mackay -- "lifting her off of the ground." He described it as a "sleeper hold," and said Mackay became motionless. Cook said he then saw Tate holding Mackay under the water for five minutes -- with one knee on her back and his hands by her head and shoulder area. Cook said Tate then found an apron-type piece of clothing on the beach, and wrapped it around her neck -- "pulling back until her head and upper body were bent backwards." Cook said Mackay was no longer moving and Tate took her body back to her car, where Tate asked Cook for help lifting her into the trunk. Cook said he helped because "there was no going back now."
Olivia Mackay
Cook told investigators they lifted the body into the trunk and Cook got into the driver's seat, and Tate told him where to go. Cook said he asked Tate what he wanted to do with the body, and Tate said "he didn't know yet." Cook said he eventually drove to an area in Racine County, where they stopped and Tate wrapped Mackay's body in garbage bags. They then carried her to an area where "there were a lot of weeds" and laid her on her back under the bushes "where they thought no one would find her," the complaint says.
Body found in field in Mount Pleasant
Jamari Cook
Tate then drove, dropping Cook off at his girlfriend's house, the complaint says.
According to the complaint, Cook said he asked Tate what he was going to do with the car, and he said he was going to "flip it" for money.
Investigators discovered a Facebook Messenger conversation where Tate was trying to sell Mackay's vehicle to an individual, to whom he had sent a picture of it, the complaint says.
Jamari Cook
In court on Monday, August 7th for his initial appearance, cash bond was set at $20,000 for Cook. A preliminary hearing was set for August 15th.
Again, Tate hasn't yet been formally charged.
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