Ex-NYPD officer charged with murder in Brooklyn jogger stabbing
Sayed Mohassib, a former NYPD officer, is charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of 28-year-old jogger Katie Suarez on a Brooklyn waterfront path, as police have not yet released a motive.
A former New York Police Department officer has been charged with second-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of 28-year-old Katie Suarez, who was attacked while jogging on a Brooklyn waterfront path. Sayed Mohassib, 27, also faces charges of tampering with physical evidence and criminal possession of a weapon. Police have not released a motive for the attack.
Suarez was stabbed in the neck at about 8 p.m. on Oct. 30 along the Shore Parkway Greenway in Brooklyn. Before the attack she had been on the phone with her parents, and the call was cut off. Her parents later found her, and she was taken to a hospital, where she died of her injuries.
Mohassib previously served with the NYPD before leaving the department to pursue a career with the Marines. He was deemed unfit for service and did not remain in the military. Most recently he worked as a public school aide, a role that placed him in the city's education system. The Department of Education suspended him after his arrest, and whether he will be fired depends on the outcome of the criminal case.
The account of his conduct after the attack comes from the case itself. Mohassib told police that he woke up covered in blood and had no memory of what had happened. He said he threw the knife in the garbage. When he was led in handcuffs out of the 62nd Precinct station, he appeared to show little emotion, a demeanor that drew attention in photographs taken as he was transported.
Suarez's death has also carried a form of consequence beyond the courtroom. Her organ donation reportedly saved five lives, a detail that has added to the weight of a case already shocking to the community that uses the greenway. The charges against Mohassib reflect the seriousness of the allegations, though no conviction has been reached and the presumption of innocence applies.
Investigators have not said whether Mohassib knew Suarez before the attack, and the reason for the stabbing remains unclear. The case will now move through the courts, where the charges will be tested and the questions about motive and any prior connection may be addressed.
Source: foxnews.com
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