Police arrested 27-year-old Sayed Mohassib on Saturday in connection with the fatal stabbing of 28-year-old jogger Katie Suarez in Brooklyn on Oct. 30.1,3,4
Suarez was stabbed in the neck while jogging in the evening and died three days later, police said. Mohassib, who police said is a teacher's aide and who a source said briefly worked for the New York Police Department, has been charged with second-degree murder, according to police, and investigators had not disclosed a motive.2,4
Suarez called her father around 8 p.m. on Oct. 30 to say she was about a half mile from home, according to police. When she did not arrive, her parents went looking for her, and her father found her stabbed in the neck, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny.4
The accounts described the location in slightly different terms. The New York Post placed the attack along the Shore Parkway Greenway promenade, while ABC News described it as along the Belt Parkway waterfront in Brooklyn. The time given was around 8 p.m. on Oct. 30.2,4
Police said detectives developed evidence they said placed Mohassib at the scene, leading to his arrest. The New York Post, citing sources, said investigators tracked him down after video showed him leaving the Shore Parkway Greenway around the time Suarez was attacked.2,4
Mohassib works as an aide at a Brooklyn public elementary school near the crime scene, a source with knowledge of the investigation told ABC News. The New York Post said he works just three blocks away from the scene of the stabbing.2,4
His prior service was described by sources. He briefly worked for the NYPD before being removed for psychological reasons, a source told ABC News. According to that source, he was later discharged from the Marines for mental health issues and was unsuccessful in an attempt to rejoin the NYPD. The New York Post, citing sources, similarly said he had a brief stint in the NYPD before joining the Marines, where he was deemed psychologically unfit.2,4
On the charges, police said Mohassib was charged with second-degree murder. The New York Post said he was charged with second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with evidence.2,4
The New York Post said that during questioning at the 62nd Precinct, Mohassib said he woke up from a blackout covered in blood and with the murder weapon which he ditched in the garbage. The Post also said he was hauled out of the Bensonhurst police station in cuffs at 4 p.m. and was awaiting arraignment as of Saturday evening. No attorney information was available, according to ABC News, and a motive was not immediately revealed by investigators.2,4
Suarez was declared brain dead after the stabbing but was kept on life support while doctors harvested her organs, police sources told the Post. The Post, citing law enforcement sources, said she donated her pancreas, liver, kidneys and heart, saving five lives.2
Her mother, Yasira Suarez, confirmed several days after the attack that her daughter had died. "She passed away yesterday. Katie is no longer with us, unfortunately," Yasira Suarez said on Tuesday. "Destroyed. We are all destroyed," she said. "You took an angel," she said. A candlelight vigil was held on Wednesday after the family confirmed the death, and Mohassib was awaiting arraignment as of Saturday evening.2
