The views and opinions expressed in Cold and Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. All parties mentioned are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Cold and Missing also contains adult themes and languages. Listener discretion is advised. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin-Sulkowski. And I'm your co-host, Eli Sulkowski. And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover cold cases and missing person cases. Hello everyone and welcome back.
I'm your host, Ali. And I'm your co-host, Eli. And this is Cold and Missing, episode 71. We're in the 70s now. And you have a new case for us this week, right? I sure do. We are on a cold case this week. Awesome. Let's get to it. So today we are covering the cold case of Tiesha Sargeant. And this takes place in May of 2006 in Brooklyn, New York. But first a little bit about Tiesha. Tiesha is a brilliant young woman. She was 26 years old in 2006 and she would have been 44 years old today.
Family and friends describe her as a lovely, charming, and an overachieving kind of person. She was a first generation as both of her parents were from Guyana. During her middle school years, Tiesha was accepted into the Prep for Prep program. Prep for Prep is a program in New York City for young people of color to get scholarships to the city's best private schools. Basically they take kind of standardized tests. And if you score high enough, you take more tests and IQ tests.
And eventually you get placed into this program if you score well enough, which Tiesha did. She went above and beyond. Tiesha was accepted into the Brealey School, where she excelled. Tiesha was the co-head of the student government. The junior prom princess, second soprano in the chorus, dominated the field hockey team and even tutored younger kids in her free time. So yeah, she did everything. She was everywhere all the time.
Tiesha went on to attend Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where she began to explore racial identity politics. She penned many papers about the role of black women in society and wanted to pursue more writing after college. After graduating, Tiesha hopped around from a few different corporate jobs, but in 2006 she had just started working for the publishing giant Conde Nast in Manhattan.
She was working as a web designer, but the freelance nature of her job gave her time to write in the evenings, which she loved. So now a timeline of events. Tiesha, in 2006, was living with her boyfriend, Keve Huggins. They live on a second floor walk-up apartment in Prospect Lefferts Gardens in Brooklyn, New York. This is just blocks away from where Tiesha grew up. Tiesha loves Keve and believes that this is who she is supposed to spend the rest of her life with.
Her friends said that they could hear her smiling through the phone when she talked about him. Some people in Tiesha's life expressed concerns about their relationship. There was often money and guns around the apartment, and Keve was selling weed out of the home when Tiesha was at work without her knowing. Tiesha defends her relationship and Keve. Tiesha tells a friend, quote, as long as he's not disrespectful to me or the relationship, I'm good. I've told him that.
End quote. On Saturday, May 13th, Keve had been selling weed during the day, and he says he sold around $6,000 of weed that day, made up of amongst three or four deals. Later that evening, Keve's cell phone rang, and when he picks up, he's on the receiving end of a threatening phone call. He doesn't think much about it. He eventually falls asleep on the couch. Sunday, the next day, was his birthday.
In the late hours of Saturday to the early morning of Sunday, May 14th, which is also Mother's Day, three intruders climbed through the couple's second-floor window and caught Keve by surprise, who was asleep on the couch. One of the intruders pushed Tiesha on top of Keve and tied them up before putting a sheet over both of them. From the reports, it seems like they were face-to-face, Tiesha and Keve. The gunman fired once and shot Tiesha in the back of the head.
A police source told newspaper, quote, he lives. She doesn't. They were so close he heard her sigh when she was hit. End quote. This all happens around 1.30 a.m. As the intruders fled the apartment with $5,000 and Keve's cell phone, Keve calls the police, I'm assuming using Tiesha's phone or another phone that was available in the apartment. Keve tells police about Tiesha's murder and the break-in. The thieves did leave behind a gun behind their apartment.
Keve was not injured at all in the break-in. When police arrived, they do announce Tiesha dead on the scene, and they also find weed in the apartment, which Keve readily admits that he was selling. They bring him downtown for an interview, but they don't call him a suspect immediately. They do end up arresting him on drug-related charges, since they did find just under four ounces of weed in the apartment.
Police find that unloaded gun in the backyard, but they do not believe that this was the murder weapon. On Tuesday, May 16th, family and friends are shocked by the death of Tiesha. Her friend, Corrin Mills, says, quote, she was a star, ambitious, motivated, beautiful, kind. It is just unfathomable to all of us. End quote. Police continue to investigate the murder. Again, a police source close to the investigation says, quote, either way, this young woman was innocent, end quote.
Keve, who had been arrested on the drug-related charges, does make bail that evening and leaves prison. Tiesha's family and friends beg that anyone who has ever bought weed from their apartment come forward, and that anyone who knows anything about Tiesha's murder to come forward with that information. On Wednesday, May 17th, Tiesha is laid to rest. Her family and friends gather for her funeral service and say goodbye. Her family is distraught over this senseless killing.
Her friend, Corrin, says, quote, everyone is reeling and so very, very, very angry about this relationship, this new boyfriend. We are shocked because this was not on anyone's radar. Tiesha was a special person. There was no reason to worry that anything bad would have ever happened to her. End quote.
And although her friend does say that this is a new boyfriend, they had been dating for about a year at this point and had just moved in together in their Brooklyn apartment just a few months before the murder. Police continue to question Keve about Tiesha's murder, and he's being very cooperative with police at this time. The police tell the newspapers, quote, we are looking at him, at everything, especially his recent drug dealings. The victim is shot and killed.
The boyfriend not only survives, he is not hurt in any way. End quote. On Thursday, May 18th, just four days after the murder, Tiesha's father, Henry, speaks to the public for the first time. Henry is still dazed from the death of his daughter, but he does not blame Keve for what happened. Keve continues to cooperate with police and returns back to the apartment to walk police through the night.
Police are looking into the threatening phone call that Keve received just hours before the break-in and murder. Police also try to get Keve to take a polygraph test. At first, he readily agrees, but just as quickly, he changes his mind and refuses to submit to the polygraph. The next update comes about a month later, on June 24th. Police release a sketch of the suspect. The sketch comes from Keve, who briefly saw a man holding a gun before the sheet was placed over him and Tiesha.
Tiesha's father, Henry, who originally was supportive of Keve, has turned icy against him. Henry says, quote, you sold drugs from this place without my daughter knowing. You put her in danger. There will always be a cloud following you. You need to take a polygraph test to satisfy me, the police, and yourself." End quote. Henry pleads with Keve through the media to be upfront about what he knows.
Henry says that Keve has never been clear on how he was tied up and couldn't do anything to protect his daughter. Keve, in an interview with a reporter, told them that he woke up with his hands bound around Tiesha and held together with a zip tie. It was only after the shot that he was able to break free. Keve said that even though they were face to face and Tiesha was still alive, that she didn't say anything in those final moments.
At this point in time, Keve has lawyered up, but him and his lawyers are saying that he is willing to take the polygraph test now and police and Tiesha's family are hopeful that he will keep his word. At the beginning of July, Keve sits down with New York Magazine to tell his side of the story. Keve says, quote, that was my girlfriend. She was going to be my future wife. I don't have any reason to hold back information, but the police have nothing to go on. They need a bad guy. End quote.
Keve also mentions in this interview that hours after Tiesha was murdered, a call was made to her cell phone using his phone, which had been stolen by the three intruders. Keve claims that the police have made no effort in tracking where the phone call came from. In September of 2006, four months after the murder, Keve finally takes the polygraph test, but the results are inconclusive.
Keve will say that he did pass a polygraph test that his lawyer administrated, but the police polygraph comes back inconclusive. It's shortly after this that the case really falls out of the media. In May of 2008, it's been two years since Tiesha was killed, police still have no suspects in the case. Keve has never been named a suspect in Tiesha's case officially, but he's never been ruled out publicly by the police either.
Police still seem to believe that Keve knows more than what he has told police. A reporter for the Daily News reaches out to Keve for a statement, but he doesn't have much to say. When asked if he had any idea who killed Tiesha, he says, quote, I'm not going to go guessing two years after the fact. End quote.
In 2017, it's now been 11 years since Tiesha's murder, the NYPD announces that they are officially reopening her case in the cold case squad, but since then there has been no updates and no arrests. So with that, if you know anything about the murder of Tiesha Sargeant in May of 2006, please call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS. That's 1-800-577-TIPS. And the sources for the timeline today come from the Daily News, Newsday, the New York Post and New York Magazine.
So that is the case of Tiesha Sargeant. Mostly my initial reaction to this case is just a huge wave of sadness. What a brilliant mind to lose so senselessly and carelessly, like to leave the world. I mean, I really enjoyed, and every time we cover a case, I really enjoy how much you cover just who the person was as much as you can find out about them. And I just feel a deep sadness that this soul didn't rightfully, you know, continue to exist in the world. That was my reaction too.
I just thought, like, what a brilliant mind and, like, beautiful person to have been taken from this world. Like, I think that had Tiesha lived, we would be reading her writing and she would have gone really far in this life and would have been a leader and a prolific writer. I mean, she was so smart, just so smart. That's one thing that people said again and again was just how smart and brilliant she was.
I think my second reaction is all of the circumstances, just like life circumstances surrounding her boyfriend. Could you remind me his name again? Keev Huggins. Keev, thank you. What I thought was, it just doesn't look good for this guy. Especially at the time, there's a lot of negatives, like being ticked off there, you know, how marijuana operates in our country right now is so different even from, well, this was about 15 years ago now. 2006. Yeah, so close to, it was such a different time.
So the way it was looked at socioeconomically, if you were selling, if you were buying, what type of person you were, how people thought of you, the race of the person in relation to marijuana at all. So that's pretty much what I thought was whether he did it or not, it just, his circumstances really didn't help him. Yeah, it just doesn't, it doesn't look and or sound great from my perspective. No, you know, Keev is really cooperative with police in that first week or so.
And then, you know, they asked him to take a polygraph test, he refuses, and that's kind of when the cooperation stops on his end with the police and with the investigation. The one thing that I just kind of keep coming back to, and it seems like this was a sticking point for her family as well was how exactly did they get tied up without him being able to, you know, fight back.
From his own statement to the press, he was asleep on the couch and kind of woke up with Tiesha on top of him and his arms bound with zip ties. And it's hard to imagine that someone gets put on top of you and your hands get zip tied without you waking up in that process at all. Just like kind of waking up just moments before the sheet is put over both of them. Like that's that's really the point where I'm like, something is there maybe that isn't being said or maybe at least not publicly.
Probably it has been said to investigators, but that's just when I try to like imagine what was happening, I just I can't really figure that part out at all. Yeah, as someone who this isn't really a reveal, I guess to you as someone who has unfortunately been in handcuffs before, not for anything too serious.
I'm sober and so much I make so much so many better decisions now in my life, but I have had the unfortunate experience of having my hands handcuffed, which I know from listening to true crime and stuff is pretty similar to at least the tension that would be created with your hands behind your back, zip tied around each. So his hands actually weren't behind his back, according to him. They were around Tiesha and zip tied behind her.
So that way he was kind of holding her and that's how they were tied up was like his hands were holding her and then she's shot in the back of the head. Well still, the the experience of having your hands like hands and arms restrained, that is a physical experience that if you weren't initially awake for, you would probably actually like sure as hell wake up. I just that part. Yeah, it's so unclear to me how it happened.
But again, I don't want to speculate and like really want to give this person the benefit of the doubt. Yeah, it's like the only way that I could see that happening was if you know, he falls asleep on the couch with Tiesha like kind of laying on top of him if they were cuddling or something and fell asleep and he already had his hands around her.
And then somebody comes in and zip ties them quickly, I could see how like maybe they would get to you, like get you like kind of incapacitated before you fully wake up to realize what's happening. But from his own statements, it doesn't seem like Tiesha was asleep on the couch with him. It seemed like she had gone to bed and he fell asleep on the couch. So you know, Tiesha was a small girl, but she still weighed, you know, 120 pounds, I bet.
And so like for 120 pound body to be put on you, wrap your arms around them zip tied and then you kind of wake up. I just feel like you would have woken up when she was placed on you. But maybe there is a detail in there that we are not made aware of. And again, I hope that that has been told to investigators. But yeah, that's like really a sticking point for me is how exactly did this happen? There is also a part of me that, you know, just has willingness to understand him.
When he sat down for that interview and said, you know, they need a bad guy. I feel for him a little bit where I'm like, yeah, it's pretty easy here to draw as many conclusions as you want that somehow, you know, it's this guy who did it, he committed the crime or whatever. I I don't I feel like it sounds like devil's advocate or whatever.
I just circumstantially I understood that where he was coming from, at least from that that comment, but I just wish he would have been continuously cooperative. I guess I could understand why he would be afraid to say yes to a polygraph. Like initially without a lawyer, you know, there's there's room in my mind there to understand why he acted the way that he did with police and there's room for me to wish that he had chosen otherwise. That makes sense.
Yeah. And you know, my my knee jerk, my gut reaction is that I don't think that Keve did kill Tiesha. I don't think that he was the murderer. I wonder if part of, you know, the sheet being put over them, which I do believe happened, nothing from the police is, you know, contradicted of that. But I wonder if like him saying that he was asleep and he woke up and just saw one person with a gun before the sheet was put over them, if that's him just like not trying to like rat anybody else out.
I'm not a criminal mastermind or anything like that, but I know that sometimes in the world of drug dealing and, you know, illicit activity that even if something terrible happens, like a murder of a loved one, like you even if you know who did it, you still don't rat on them. You don't snitch on them. That happens. That has happened. It will probably happen again. So I just like wonder if that's kind of playing a part here as well.
I guess my question now is just sort of a recap on where law enforcement has left off and yeah, where this case is now and where this case is now and what we can do to help get Tiesha's name back out there if there's more that we can do now that this case is at the forefront of our minds and all of our listeners.
As I mentioned in 2017, the New York Police Department's cold case squad officially reopened Tiesha's case, but since 2017, there really hasn't been any movement officially from police on this case. There's been no arrests. There's been no suspects. The only kind of piece we have of the suspect is the sketch that was made by police provided from the description that Keefe gave them. So that's really where we're at.
You know, there were three people that broke into the apartment according to Keefe. So that's three people who potentially have talked since then, potentially have mentioned something, potentially have said something in their sleep, have said something drunkenly. So that's three opportunities for someone to slip and say something that will eventually bring the killer or killers to justice for Tiesha.
And again, if you know anything about the murder of Tiesha, please call Crimestoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS. That's 1-800-577-8477. While you are listening to this episode, it would be so wonderful and so appreciated on our end if you are listening in Apple podcasts, if you could rate, review, and please, please, please review. That really helps our podcasts become a bit more noticeable on the charts.
And more importantly, it helps us get these names out there that we talk about on each episode here at Cold and Missing. We did get a new review this week from someone named Joshua. I think I might know this person in real life, but in case I don't, and I'm sure you're listening, I hope you're still listening, thank you so much for doing that. I really appreciate it. Eli really appreciates it.
And again, just like Eli said, rating, reviewing, it's a free way to support this podcast and a way to support cold cases and missing people. It gets their names out there to others who will give the podcast a try based off of your recommendation. What an influencer you are. We will also be posting pictures of Tiesha on our Instagram as well as a photo of the suspect. We have that suspect sketch, so we will be posting that up on our Instagram.
If you're not following us already at Cold and Missing, we should pop right up and you can also go to cold and missing.com where Ali has so beautifully provided our listeners with transcripts and more information on how to support the podcast. That's coldandmissing.com. But that is all I have for this week. Thank you so much again for listening to Cold and Missing. I so appreciate being part of your week and a part of your little routine. So thank you for being here.
I'm your host, Ali. And I am your cohost, Eli. Have a good week and stay safe, y'all. Stay safe, y'all.