Ex-officer arrested in Brooklyn accused of murdering jogger Katie Suarez

New York police arrested Sayed Mohassib, 27, on Saturday on a second-degree murder charge in the death of Katie Suarez, a 28-year-old runner stabbed on October 30 while jogging on the Shore Parkway Greenway in Brooklyn.

Suarez, a TD Bank teller, was ambushed and stabbed in the neck at around 8:15 p.m., shortly after leaving work, near Bay 17th Street, not far from her home in Gravesend. Her father found her injured on the path and she was taken to the hospital, where she was declared brain dead; her organs were donated and helped five people, who received her pancreas, liver, kidneys and heart, the New York Post reported.

Detectives tracked Mohassib to his Bensonhurst home after surveillance cameras caught him leaving the park around the time of the attack, according to police sources cited by the newspaper. He is also charged with tampering with physical evidence and criminal possession of a weapon. Police have not determined a motive for the attack and note that the victim's jewelry and phone were left at the scene, so robbery does not appear to have been the motive.

Mohassib worked as a paraprofessional at Public School 200, just three blocks from the waterfront promenade where the crime took place, and returned to work with children days after the attack, according to the sources. He had spent six weeks with the New York Police Department in 2022 and was later discharged from the Marines for psychological reasons; his attempts to rejoin the force were denied.

According to police sources, during questioning at the 62nd Precinct the accused said he woke from a blackout covered in blood and with no memory of the attack. Authorities stress that Mohassib is accused, not convicted, and that the investigation continues.

Photo: New York Post

Source: New York Post