NEW YORK — Police have arrested a 27-year-old public school employee and former probationary officer in connection with the fatal stabbing of a woman jogging along a Brooklyn waterfront trail, authorities said Saturday.
Sayed Mohassib faces charges of second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence in the slaying of 28-year-old Katie Suarez, according to the New York City Police Department and local media reports. Suarez was ambushed the evening of Oct. 30 while running on the Shore Parkway path alongside the Belt Parkway.
Surveillance Video Leads to Arrest
Investigators used security camera footage from the surrounding area to track Mohassib leaving the greenway near the time of the stabbing, law enforcement sources told the New York Post and NBC News. Video also captured him throwing out trash bags near his Bensonhurst residence on the night of the attack, NBC News reported. Investigators launched searches at sanitation facilities across the region to locate the weapon, according to outlets.
Law enforcement officials told NBC News and the Post that Mohassib admitted to walking with a blade along the trail but claimed he suffered a blackout and later regained awareness covered in blood. Authorities have characterized the assault as an apparently random encounter, though investigators noted both Suarez and Mohassib had previously attended Brooklyn College, the Post reported.
Suarez, a bank employee who was preparing for an upcoming road race, had contacted her father around 8 p.m. to say she was near the end of her jog. When she failed to reach their designated meeting spot, her father retraced her route and discovered her bleeding from multiple puncture wounds to her neck. She remained hospitalized on life support before succumbing to her injuries, relatives and officials said.
Suspect’s Background Raises Questions
Mohassib’s background immediately drew intense scrutiny from community leaders and elected representatives. City payroll records show he was working as a paraprofessional at P.S. 200, an elementary school situated a few blocks from the crime scene. He continued to show up for work following the attack, according to law enforcement officials.
The New York City Department of Education announced Mohassib has been suspended without pay and faces termination pending legal proceedings. “The safety of our students is our very top priority,” the agency said in a statement reported by CBS News and NBC News, adding that officials are cooperating fully with law enforcement.
Law enforcement records and reporting by ABC News and NBC News reveal Mohassib spent roughly one month in 2022 as an NYPD recruit assigned to field training in the Bronx. He departed to report for military duty with the U.S. Marines, but the armed forces subsequently discharged him over psychological concerns, officials told outlets. In early 2023, he sought reinstatement with the NYPD, but the department rejected his request and officers transported him to Bellevue Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation after he exhibited erratic behavior.
Law enforcement sources told NBC News that police were also summoned to Mohassib’s home in September 2024 after relatives reported he made violent verbal threats, resulting in a transport to Coney Island Hospital for treatment.
In a joint statement, several local lawmakers demanded an inquiry into the vetting procedures that permitted Mohassib to work around children despite past psychiatric interventions. Detectives have not established an official motive, and court appearance details were not immediately announced.
