BROOKLYN, NY. (THECOUNT) — A New York City elementary school aide has been charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of a woman who was attacked while jogging along a Brooklyn waterfront path. Sayed Mohassib, 27, was arrested Saturday in the October 30 killing of Katie Suarez, 28, in Bath Beach, Kings County, within the New York metropolitan area.
Mohassib was employed by the New York City Department of Education as a school aide at P.S. 200, an elementary school in Bath Beach. According to reports, he continued working at the school after the attack and remained employed there until his arrest.
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A Department of Education spokesperson said Mohassib had been suspended and that the agency would move to terminate his employment. The department also said it was providing support and resources to the school community.
Suarez was jogging along the Shore Parkway Greenway near Bay 17th Street around 8 p.m. October 30 when she was stabbed multiple times in the neck, according to investigators. She had been on her usual running route after leaving work.
When Suarez failed to return home, her father went looking for her and found her seriously wounded along the path. She was rushed to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, where she died three days after the attack.
Investigators identified Mohassib after surveillance footage allegedly showed him leaving the greenway around the time Suarez was attacked. Police arrested him following a weeklong investigation.
According to police sources cited by the New York Post, Mohassib told investigators he had no memory of the stabbing. He allegedly claimed he blacked out and woke up covered in blood with a knife in his hand.
Mohassib reportedly told investigators he discarded the knife in the garbage. Authorities believe the trash was transported to a Staten Island landfill before eventually ending up at a dump in New Jersey. The weapon had not been recovered in the initial reports.
Mohassib previously served briefly with the New York Police Department before resigning in December 2022 to join the military. He later sought to return to the NYPD, but the department denied his request following a psychological evaluation, according to reports. He was subsequently discharged from the Marines on psychiatric grounds, according to statements by local elected officials.
Mohassib faces charges of second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence and criminal possession of a weapon. Authorities have not publicly established a motive or said whether he knew Suarez.
City Council Member Kayla Santosuosso, State Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assembly Member-elect Chris McCreight called for a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mohassib’s hiring and continued employment with the Department of Education.
The fatal stabbing occurred along the Shore Parkway Greenway near Bay 17th Street in Bath Beach, a waterfront neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City. The area is part of Kings County in the greater New York metropolitan region.
Approximate Google Maps location: Shore Parkway Greenway near Bay 17th Street, Bath Beach, Brooklyn
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