Sayed Mohassib, a 27-year-old New York City school aide, is facing a second-degree murder charge after a Brooklyn woman was stabbed to death during her evening run. The case took another turn when newly filed court documents revealed that Mohassib allegedly told investigators he went to the waterfront path carrying a knife because he feared people were coming to kill his family. The victim, 28-year-old Katie Suarez, was attacked along the Shore Parkway Greenway in Bath Beach on October 30.
Mohassib was arrested on November 7 after detectives spent days investigating Suarez’s killing. He was later arraigned and ordered held without bail. Besides second-degree murder, he faces charges of tampering with physical evidence and criminal possession of a weapon. Prosecutors have also outlined a series of events they say connect him to the fatal attack.
According to the criminal complaint, surveillance footage captured Mohassib walking toward the running path before the stabbing. Other footage allegedly showed him running away from the area afterward. Investigators also traced his movements back to his apartment, where he was reportedly seen disposing of items through a garbage chute. Court documents further allege that he later came outside wearing only his underwear.
Police say investigators found what appeared to be blood inside his apartment. A crime scene detective reportedly determined that a stain tested presumptively positive for blood. The complaint also alleges that Mohassib attempted to clean the blood and dispose of clothing connected to the incident. The knife believed to have been used in the attack had not been recovered in the initial reports.
During questioning, Mohassib allegedly told investigators he had gone to the path with a knife because he believed someone was planning to kill his family. Earlier police reports also said he claimed to have blacked out and woken up covered in blood, with a knife in his hand. He reportedly said he could not remember stabbing anyone. These statements remain part of the allegations surrounding the case.
The woman at the center of the investigation was Katie Suarez, a 28-year-old Brooklyn resident who had gone for her usual evening run after work. She had been working at a nearby bank and planned to meet her parents after exercising. Around 7:56 p.m., she spoke with her father and told him she was roughly half a mile away.
When Suarez did not arrive as expected, her father went looking for her. He eventually found her unconscious beneath a tree along the waterfront path, bleeding heavily from her neck. Emergency responders took her to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, where she received treatment. She died three days after the stabbing. The medical examiner later determined that a stab wound to the neck caused her death.
Mohassib was employed as a school aide at P.S. 200, an elementary school in Bath Beach. What has particularly concerned local officials is that he reportedly continued working there after the October 30 attack and was not removed from the school until his arrest. The Department of Education has since confirmed his suspension and said it would move to terminate his employment. It also pledged support for the school community.
His previous employment history has added another layer to the investigation. Mohassib briefly served with the NYPD before resigning in December 2022 to join the military. He later sought to return to the police department but was reportedly rejected following a psychological evaluation. Local elected officials have also said he was discharged from the Marines on psychiatric grounds.
City Council Member Kayla Santosuosso, State Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assembly Member-elect Chris McCreight have demanded a full investigation into how Mohassib secured his school position and remained employed. Their concerns center on the circumstances surrounding his hiring and whether his previous employment history received proper attention.
Despite the arrest and the new allegations outlined in court, several important questions remain unanswered. Authorities have not publicly established a motive for Suarez’s killing or confirmed whether she knew Mohassib before the attack. For now, the 27-year-old remains in custody as he faces the murder and evidence-tampering charges. Suarez’s family is left dealing with the loss of a woman whose ordinary evening run ended in a fatal attack along a Brooklyn waterfront path.