This Sioux Falls woman is charged with murdering a man. Court records allege that man raped her.
The second person arrested in connection to the death of Nigussie Bulti is alleging he raped her, recently filed court documents show.
Taylor Jade Crossley, 26, of Sioux Falls, was indicted Monday afternoon on charges of murder, manslaughter, commission of another felony any aggravated assault along with Morningstar Jewett, 29, of Sioux Falls, who was indicted on the same charges for their alleged role in the death of Bulti.
Initially, Jewett was charged with aggravated assault in connection to the incident. Bulti was found deceased in an apartment on July 5, marking the first homicide of 2023 in Sioux Falls.
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Crossley, a habitual offender previously convicted of possession of a controlled substance, was Jewett’s girlfriend, according to witness's statements found in the arrest warrant affidavit. The witness allegedly saw Jewett near the victim's apartment before Bulti was found dead.
Jewett, who had been arrested for a separate incident July 4, admitted to killing Bulti while he was speaking with police, stating he stomped six times on his victim’s head, and people who he refused to identify helped him to clean up the scene, previous Argus Leader reporting states.
He said his girlfriend was there at the time of the incident and “was present when he returned as people were cleaning up the scene," court records state.
When Jewett was shown a picture of Crossley during the investigation, Jewett chuckled with “a notable change of demeanor to the previous two pictures shown,” according to Crossley's affidavit. When he was shown three other pictures of people prior, Jewett did not react.
“I do recognize some of them, but I’m not going to say anything,” he said upon seeing the first pictures.
Asked if he knew the person in photo three, Jewett said “not really.” Asked how long he knew that person, he took a pause and leaned back, according to the affidavit. He wiped a tear from his eye and claimed he did not know her.
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A few days prior to Bulti's body being discovered, a witness messaged jail staff on July 3 at the Minnehaha County Jail asking to speak to a particular detective. She was then transferred to the Law Enforcement Center for an interview and reported that Crossley confided to her in custody that “she had to get rid of a body” of “an African guy,” the court records show.
“She had mentioned the body was already decomposing and leaking, and he was upstairs,” stated the affidavit when it came to the witness' conversations with Crossley. “I’m probably going to have to cut him up or do something to dispose of the body.”
The witness said Crossley allegedly told her she strangulated and stabbed the victim because he raped her. The witness reported another inmate told her Bulti had died, and she realized that was who Crossley was talking about. The witness said she knew Bulti from visiting others at the same apartment complex, the documents stated.
The witness told investigators Bulti was generous and described him as “the sweetest.” She said she did not believe Bulti raped Crossley because he was not aggressive. The witness also said she was previously familiar with Crossley outside jail and knew her to possess knives, the affidavit stated.
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At the time of the interview with the witness the cause of Bulti’s death had not been released to the public, and it was not made public that the victim had been stabbed.
Crossley had been arrested on July 3 and was in possession of car keys belonging to a stolen red 2005 Toyota Highlander (SUV) with SD license plate. Jewett and Crossley remain in the Minnehaha County Jail from earlier arrest charges, and currently each face $150,025 and $100,125 bond respectively, records show.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Sioux Falls woman charged in homicide says she was raped by victim: Court records
