In a filing today in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, the government announced it will not seek the death penalty against Mahamud Tooxoow Mahamed, who is charged with three felonies in connection with the kidnapping that led to the murder of Jessica McCormack, 25, Noel, a former Carthage resident, in July 2019.
Mahamed pleaded not guilty in May to a superseding indictment charging him with kidnapping resulting in death, stalking resulting in death and kidnapping of a minor.
The charge against Mahamed is described in the probable cause affidavit filed after Mahamed's arrest in 2021.
The deceased female was located in a partially unclothed state within a suitcase.
A subsequent investigation conducted by the McDonald County Sheriff's Office led to the identification of the deceased as Jessica McCormack.
Through the course of the investigation, MCSO discovered that McCormack's last known address was 229 Main Street, Noel, Missouri. This was confirmed by MCSO through prior law enforcement contact and calls for service.
A review of calls for service reports obtained from the McDonald County 9-1-1 Dispatch Center conducted by the MCSO showed that on July 16, 2019, law enforcement officers with the Noel, Missouri's Marshal's Office made contact with McCormack and her three children at McCormack's residence, 229 Main Street, Noel, Missouri.
McCormack's three children are identified as Jane Doe 1 (four years old), Jane Doe 2 (two years old) and Jane Doe 3 (six months old).
The report indicated that Mahamud Tooxoow Mahamed, identified as McCormack's paramour, was also at the residence at the time and law enforcement officers checked Mahamed for active warrants while on the scene.
Dispatch also received a call from an individual on July 17, 2019, reporting that he/she had been unable to locate McCormack.
Mahamed is the biological father of the two-year-old female child Jane Doe 2. Jane Doe 1's biological father is Miguel Angel Casillas, who resides in Oklahoma. The biological father of Jane Doe 3 cannot be postively identified at this time.
On August 8, 2019, after making positive identification of McCormack's body, the MCSO issued an Amber Alert for McCormack's three biological children, who could not be located at McCormack's residence.
On August 8, 2019, Jane Does 1, 2 and 3 were subsequently located in Des Moines, Iowa and were taken into state custody.
On August 12, 2019, your affiant spoke with Detective Jake Lancaster with the Des Moines Iowa Police Department. Detective Lancaster informed your affiant that the Jane Does were located at 6011 Creston Avenue, Unit 1, Des Moines, Iowa.
Malyun Koliso, the resident at 6011 Creston Avenue Unit 1, informed Detective Lancaster that on August 5, 2019, Mahamed arrived at her residence with the Jane Does between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Koliso knew Mahamed from having previously worked with him at the Tyson plant in Noel, Missouri. Koliso reported that on August 8, 2019, at approxiately 4 p.m. she awoke to the children crying. When she got out of bed, she discovered that Mahamed was not in the residence. Koliso stated that she found a note from Mahamed informing her that he could not care for the children and had left.
On August 12, 2019, your affiant spoke with Dianne Cooper of the Missouri Department of Social Services Children's Division in McDonald County, Missouri. Cooper informed your affiant that an investigation conducted by the Children's Division indicated that the father of McCormack's oldest child was Casillas.
On August 8, 2019, MCSO Lieutenant Brandon Barrett interviewed Casillas, who confirmed that Jane Doe 1 is his daughter and that Mahamed did not his consent to take Jane Doe outside the state of Missouri, specifically to Iowa.
Your affiant received information from Lt. Barrett that he also interviewed Ibraham Akfeen on August 12, 2019.Affiant reported that he used to live at 229 Main Street with McCormack and the Jane Does.
Akfeen stated he moved out on July 15, 2019, to move to St. Louis, Missouri.
On July 16, 2019 in the early morning hours while he was in St. Louis, Akfeen received a phone call from McCormack asking him to come pick her and Jane Does up from her residence at 229 Main Street, Noel Missouri.
McCormack also texted Akfeen to come pick her up. Akfeen did not do so because he was in St. Louis. This was the last time Akfeen heard from McCormack.
Based upon the investigation, July 16, 2019, was the last time any individual observed McCormack to be alive. Furthermore, the last time the Jane Does were observed to be in the state of Missouri before they were located in Iowa was on July 16, 2019, at 229 Main Street, Noel, Missouri, by Noel Marshal's officers.
Mahamed's trial is scheduled to begin December 2 in U. S. District Court in Springfield.
