On May 11, first responders burst into an Austin home where Anna Moriah Wilson was lying unconscious and bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds.
Mere days earlier, Wilson, a 25-year-old professional cyclist who was in town for a race, posted an ode to her Specialized Aethos bike, the make she intended to compete with for many races to come.
“Love this bike so gosh darn much ❤️🔥,” she’d written.
But she never raced on it again. Despite performing life saving measures on Wilson that night, first responders were unable to save her and she was pronounced dead. Later, an autopsy determined her death was by homicide.
It’s left Wilson’s friends, family and her growing fanbase asking the same question: what on earth happened?
One woman, Kaitlin Marie Armstrong, has now been named as a suspect and a search for her has commenced. Below, everything we know about the case so far.
Anna Moriah Wilson’s death—what happened?
In the hours leading up to Wilson’s death, she had allegedly met with a fellow cyclist, Colin Strickland. The pair had gone swimming, according to a friend who was putting Wilson up while she stayed in Austin.
Strickland, who was 35, also claimed he and Wilson went swimming together that day, per an official affidavit. Strickland then told police that he and another woman, Kaitlin Marie Armstrong are in a three-year relationship and live together. According to the affidavit, the couple had a break in October 2021, during which time Strickland and Wilson struck up a “romantic relationship”.
Strickland also told police deleted text messages and changed Wilson’s name in his phone in order to “prevent” Armstrong from finding them.
Text messages have since revealed that Strickland lied to Armstrong about where he was on the day he went swimming with Wilson in order to “hide” that he had been with her.
On the night that Wilson was killed, Armstrong’s car, a 2012 Jeep Cherokee was seen in surveillance footage from a nearby residence to that of the one Wilson was staying at. Her car was seen stopping outside it.
When questioned about this particular movement, Armstrong had “no explanation as to why [her car] was in the area, and did not make any denials surrounding the statements”.
According to the affidavit, Armstrong has now deleted her social media accounts, and she’s not been seen or heard from since May 13, the record states.
This week, Austin police issued a warrant for Armstrong, naming her as a suspect for the fatal shooting of Wilson.
“Members of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force are actively conducting a fugitive investigation and pursuing leads on the whereabouts of Armstrong,” police said in a statement.
The investigation is ongoing.
Who was Anna Morian Wilson?
Anna Moriah Wilson, also known as “Mo”, was a pro-cyclist who specialised in mountain bike racing. She won several major gravel and mountain bike races over the past two seasons, having recently quit her job in order to fully focus on cycling.
She was beginning to grow her profile publicly too, she has several thousand Instagram followers, and she’d secured several sponsorships with cycling brands.
Her parents and brother issued a statement following her death, writing: “There are no words that can express the pain and suffering we are experiencing due to this senseless, tragic loss. Moriah was a talented, kind, and caring young woman. Her life was taken from her before she had the opportunity to achieve everything she dreamed of. Our family, and all those who loved her, will forever miss her.”
