‘That’s never a phrase you want to hear’: Mother of light rail murder victim prepares to say goodbye
The mother of a local chef murdered inside the Capitol Hill link light rail station prepares to say goodbye to her youngest son.
This, a day before the King County Prosecutor could charge the suspect with his murder.
Karla Bellett says she worried about her son, Corey, like all mothers. But she never imagined he would be a victim of a vicious stabbing in a link light rail station.
Now she wants the man accused of killing him to remain locked up.
They plan to honor Corey’s life on Lake Sammamish. It will provide an opportunity for his coworkers here at Harry’s Fine Foods and all of those who cared so much for him to remember the vibrant life he lived for 37 years.
It is a life that came to a violent end Saturday night.
“’Cause she started out the call, ‘I’m sorry I have to tell you this,’ " said Karla Bellett. “And that’s never a phrase you want to hear.”
That is the call Bellett got Saturday night from a social worker at Harborview Medical Center. She and her husband were out, on a date. But she knew immediately, the news was not good.
“Said ‘your son is here,’” Bellett recalled. “’He was brought into the ER and he was stabbed. But she didn’t say ‘died.’ But Dennis and I have been in health care for a long time. And I told her that. I said, ‘can you tell me what his condition is?’ And she said ‘you just need to come to the hospital,’ which was code for ‘He’s not in surgery. He’s not in critical condition.’ "
Her instincts proved horribly correct.
37-year-old Corey Bellett had brushed by a 26-year-old man inside the Capitol Hill Light Rail station just before 6 Saturday night.
According to court documents, they were soon fighting. The man, later identified as Sean Patrick Moore, is seen on surveillance video pulling out what looked like a knife and viciously stabbing Bellett. He was so badly hurt, neither Good Samaritans nor medics could save him.
“And he never regained consciousness in the ER,” she said. “It was really hard.”
She says her son’s love for fine dining took root in the Seattle kitchen of renowned local chef Jerry Traunfeld. It’s also where he met Bridgett, the soul mate he married just four months ago. Now Karla Bellett says she wants the man who took so much from so many to remain behind bars.
“Ultimately for me, it does not bring my boy back,” she said. “But I would like to see that no one else gets hurt.”
The suspect remains in the King County jail on $3 million dollars bail.
Karla says they worry most about Corey’s new bride. They planned to open their own restaurant together some day. So, they have started a GoFundMe account for her.
