BROOKLYN, NY — A New York City teacher’s aide who once worked briefly as a police officer has been charged with murder in the killing of 28-year-old Katie Suarez, a Brooklyn runner who was stabbed in the neck while out on her usual evening jog.
Court documents say Sayed Mohassib was arrested Saturday, more than a week after the attack. The city Department of Education confirmed he had been working for the agency and said it suspended him and plans to terminate his employment pending the case.
The killing has shaken Suarez’s family and drawn scrutiny to Mohassib’s background. Prosecutors say surveillance video, statements he made to police, and evidence handling allegations tie him to the deadly attack on the Shore Parkway Greenway along the Brooklyn waterfront.
Family search ends in a dark roadside discovery
Suarez had left work at a bank on October 30 and gone for a run, following the routine she kept after shifts. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said she usually changed into running clothes, handed her work clothes to her mother, and then headed out.
That night, her parents were waiting for her at a Wendy’s near her workplace. Around 8 p.m., Suarez told her father by phone that she was about half a mile away and expected to finish in about 10 minutes, Kenny said. When she did not arrive, her mother started searching for her in the dark.
Her father then found her collapsed beneath a tree, bleeding from the neck. He screamed for a passerby to call 911. Suarez was taken to a hospital, where she later died from her injuries, according to the criminal complaint and her family.
Prosecutors say surveillance video tracked Mohassib before and after the attack
Authorities say surveillance footage showed Mohassib walking toward the running path before the stabbing and later running away from the area afterward. The charging document also says video captured him returning home, coming back out about 15 minutes later wearing only underwear, and throwing items into a garbage chute.
When detectives showed him the video, Mohassib confirmed it was him, according to authorities. Prosecutors allege he told police he had gone to the path with a knife because he believed “people were going to come and kill his family.”
They say he also claimed he sat on a bench, became covered in blood, and did not stab anyone. Prosecutors allege he then ran home, discarded bloody clothes and the knife, washed the blood from his hands, and tried to clean blood inside his apartment.
Charges include murder, weapons possession and evidence tampering
Mohassib was arraigned Saturday and charged with murder, two counts of tampering with evidence and two counts of possession of a weapon. He is due back in court Tuesday morning.
Officials have not publicly detailed a motive beyond the statements included in the charging papers. CNN has sought comment from his attorney. The criminal complaint says the attack happened while Suarez was jogging on the greenway, a route she had used before.
For Suarez’s relatives, the court case does not erase the night they spent searching for her. Her mother told WABC that she believed she may have passed the spot in the darkness without seeing her daughter, then ran back after hearing her husband had found Katie.
Questions grow around Mohassib’s short police and military history
Mohassib worked as an NYPD officer for a little more than a month in 2022 before taking extended military leave, according to the department. In late November of that year, the NYPD said his firearm was removed and never returned.
The Marines told CNN his last duty assignment ended on December 15, 2022, in South Carolina. In a statement, the Corps said his premature discharge showed his service was inconsistent with Marine Corps expectations and standards.
The NYPD said Mohassib filed to resign on December 16, 2022, then asked in January 2023 to be reinstated. That request was denied. The department said supervisors observed concerning behavior and that he appeared disheveled before he was transported to Bellevue Hospital.
Katie Suarez remembered as a warm presence in her Brooklyn neighborhood
Friends, customers and coworkers have described Suarez as kind, steady and full of life. She worked as a teller at a TD Bank branch, where customers said she greeted them with a smile and treated them well.
TD Bank said it was deeply saddened by the tragedy and extended condolences to her family and others affected. NYPD’s Kenny called her a productive and beautiful member of society, while her mother said she left behind a legacy in the hearts of many people.
In interviews after the arrest, Suarez’s mother said her daughter never believed anything like this could happen to her. The family’s grief has now been joined by renewed attention to how Mohassib came to be employed in a public school while working as a teacher’s aide.
Officials and local leaders demand review of the hiring and the attack
New York City Department of Education officials said they suspended Mohassib and will move to fire him as the case moves forward. The department said student safety is its top priority and that it is supporting the NYPD investigation.
A joint statement from New York City Council member Kayla Santosuosso, state Sen. Andrew Gounardes and state Assembly member-elect Chris McCreight called for a full look at Mohassib’s hiring and continued employment in a public school. The lawmakers said his background raises serious questions that need to be examined.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the attack horrific and said the city’s hearts are with Suarez’s loved ones. For her family, though, the arrest has not changed the loss of the daughter they were waiting for less than a mile from where she was found.