Khalil Wheeler-Weaver led a double life of being a perceived “good boy” who was working towards becoming a police officer and a man under the mask who would brutally murder at least three women from the time he was 20 years old. He became a serial killer, preying on his victims from the social media space and killing them afterward.
Wheeler-Weaver, a resident of Orange, New Jersey used different names such as LilYachtRock, and pimpkillerghost-on to hide his real identity on the social media space (Tagged) he got his victims from August to November 2016.
He preyed on women in the city and if not for the friends and family of one of the deceased, he may have gone unnoticed. He was later prosecuted on many charges, resulting in 160 years of imprisonment. There is more to the story of Wheeler-Weaver and how he turned himself into a serial killer shortly after graduation from high school. Here is the full detail.
Before His Killings, Wheeler-Weaver was raised in a Family of Law Enforcement Officials
Khalil Wheeler-Weaver was born on April 20, 1996, in New Jersey, the United States. He was born into a family of law enforcement officials, with his stepfather being a detective in East Orange and his uncle being a retired officer from the Newark Police Department.
The serial killer had a pretty normal childhood in a well-to-do neighborhood and he attended the renowned Orange High School – an academic institution that graduated famous people such as Scott Satterfield, Hilda Pinnix-Ragland, and Kizzmekia Corbett.
In school, he was reserved as he did not have many friends and did not participate in extracurricular activities.
The New Jersey Native Started His Killing Spree in 2016
Wheeler-Weaver began killing in August 2016 when he was 20. His killings were targeted at women and sex workers. He got the targets from the social discovery website, Tagged.
On the site, he used different pseudonyms such as LilYachtRock and pimpkillerghost-on. He offers them sex for money and kills them after forcefully sleeping with them.
His ordeals went unnoticed since he covered his tracks well. He wore gloves and condoms; and at first, no one apart from the victims saw him commit the crimes.
Meet All Khalil Wheeler-Weaver’s Victims
Robin Daphne Michele West Was His First Known Victim
Robin was one of the unfortunate victims of Wheeler-Weaver. She was raped, strangled, and set on fire by the serial killer.
Her body was found on September 1, 2016, inside a building on Lakeside Avenue. Her family identified her body on September 13, about two weeks following her brutal murder.
Before that, Robin was reported missing from Irvington. She was last seen alive by her family on August 31st.
Robin was only 19 and a few days to her 20th birthday at the time of her death. She was born on September 5, 1996.
Joanne Brown was His Oldest Victim
Joanne Browne was the oldest of Khalil’s victims. She was 33 and like the other victims, he lured and killed her. She was a homeless woman who suffered from mental ailment and poverty
Her body was found four days before Sarah Brown’s in an abandoned house in Orange. She was however killed 6 weeks before her body was found.
Sarah Butler was Khalil Wheeler-Weaver’s Last Victim
Butler was a student at New Jersey University and one of Wheeer-Weaver’s victims. She only returned home for Thanksgiving and came to encounter the serial killer the night before her disappearance and death.
Butler and Wheeler-Weaver met online and fixed up a time to meet. Before the meeting, Butler asked Wheeler-Weaver if he wasn’t a serial killer – which turned out to be exactly who he was.
They met on November 22, 2016, and Butler never returned to her family.
Records from the authority showed that the serial killer had offered Butler $500 for sex. Prosecutors did not mention that Butler was a sex worker but was pressured by her killer.
One of His Victims Survived
Tiffany Taylor was one of Wheeler-Weaver’s victims. Like the others, she survived and became a key witness in the prosecution that led to his jail term.
Based on her story as revealed by Christopher Maag, Taylor started prostitution when things became difficult for her. Then, she met Wheeler-Weaver whose house she visited in April 2016.
She didn’t meet him alone but alongside her friend, another prostitute who was a regular with Weaver. Anyway, Taylor was said to have stolen from Weaver.
But she never had contact with him until later in November 2016 when he met her online under a false name. It turned out to be Wheeler-Weaver whom she planned to steal from. At the time, she was homeless and was forced to sleep in her car with her mother. She was also pregnant.
She remembered regaining consciousness after the killer hit her on the back of her head. She woke up to unfortunately being raped and strangled by the serial killer. She was handcuffed and duct taped.
The killing at the time did not go for Wheeler-Weaver as planned. Rather than fighting back, Taylor convinced the killer that she had to retrieve her phone from the Ritz Motel in Elizabeth because there was incriminating evidence against him. He agreed and took her back to the motel where she locked herself and called the police.
The police called her out for lying and she was even threatened to be arrested for prostitution.
This happened before Wheeler-Weaver killed his victim. Unfortunately, the incident left her paranoid and depressed.
He Faced another Murder Charge of a 15-Year-Old
The confirmed murders of Wheeler-Weaver are three at the time of his arrest and sentencing but there are possibilities that his victims could have been more. This may be another reason that he was faced with the charge of killing Mawa Doumbia – a 15-year-old from Newark.
She was last seen by her father and sister when she left the family’s home on October 7, 2016. She was never found until her remains were found on May 9, 2019.
The murder has been linked to the serial killer because her death was around the time he was on his killing spree and she was killed by strangulation as other Wheeler-Weaver’s victims.
In an investigation, it was discovered that Mawa Doumbia met Wheeler-Weaver online the same day she was killed. He begged her to meet for sex.
See Also: Doreen Lioy Fell In Love And Married Serial Killer Richard Ramirez
How He Was Arrested
Prosecutors say the first mistake of the killer was messing with Sarah Butler. She was his last victim and unfortunately for him, she was highly loved by her family and friends.
Her death was what led to his arrest. Sarah shared even her passwords with her close friend Daley and after she was killed, Daley, other friends, and Sarah’s family started looking for clues on her computer.
This led to her chats with LilYachtRock (a name Wheeler-Weaver used). They created a fake account which they used to chat him up. At the time, they left the police out of it.
They only invited the authorities when they fixed up a meeting with the killer. He was taken in for questioning and was arrested only about a week later.
Khalil Wheeler-Weaver Received 160 Years Imprisonment
Wheeler-Weaver was prosecuted and charged with the murder of the three women. Before then, samples and other details from his phone and location showed that he could be the killer the police were out for.
In 2019, he was found guilty of murder, kidnapping, attempted murder, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated arson, and three counts of desecration of human remains.
In 2021, he received a 160-year sentence in prison without the possibility of parole. He filed an appeal that was rejected in January 2024.
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