The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office announced on Tuesday, Nov. 10, that a grand jury has indicted Sayed Mohassib, 27, a teaching assistant, on charges of fatally stabbing Katie Suarez as she jogged on the Belt Parkway bike path in Bath Beach on Oct. 30. As controversy grew over how Mohassib was hired by a school, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani ordered a full review.
According to amNewYork, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced on Tuesday, Nov. 10, that a grand jury had indicted Sayed Mohassib, 27, on a charge of second-degree murder. Mohassib is accused of stabbing Katie Suarez to death as she was jogging on the Belt Parkway bike path in Bath Beach, Brooklyn, on the night of Friday, Oct. 30. Police believe the attack occurred after 7:56 p.m. that evening. No date has yet been set for Mohassib's arraignment.
Suarez was gravely wounded and died on Tuesday, Nov. 3. One of the wounds pierced her mouth and an artery. Suarez was an organ donor, and her donations reportedly saved the lives of at least four people. Police detectives arrested Mohassib on Saturday, Nov. 7.
According to court documents cited by amNY, Mohassib reportedly told police that he went to the area near the scene carrying a knife and later walked back covered in blood. He maintains, however, that he did not stab Suarez. He also reportedly stated that he frantically tried to wipe blood off the walls of his apartment. Surveillance camera (CCTV) footage showed him leaving his home in his underwear and throwing items down a trash chute, and red stains on the wall were confirmed by testing to be blood.
Mohassib reportedly held an education-related job at P.S. 200 The Benson School in Brooklyn, putting the way he was hired under scrutiny. amNY reported that he had been found unfit for Marine Corps service because of mental health problems and had worked for only a little over a month in the NYPD's field training unit. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Monday, Nov. 9, that he had ordered a full review of the hiring process, adding, "Nothing is more important than the safety of our students." Mohassib's mother told the New York Daily News that she was sorry for the victim but said, "I want to make sure an innocent person doesn't go to jail."