An Education Department employee with documented mental health issues was arrested and charged with murder Saturday in the recent stabbing death of a Brooklyn jogger, officials said — and lawmakers are questioning how he was allowed to work at a city school.
NYPD officials said they arrested Sayed Mohassib, 27, and charged him with murder.
Katie Suarez, 28, was stabbed in the neck while running on the Shore Parkway trail near Bay 17th Street on October 30.
It is unclear whether Mohassib had a connection to the victim, but police previously said they believed the attack was random. Information from his attorney was not immediately available.
The city’s Department of Education said Mohassib was immediately suspended and would be fired pending sentencing. The school’s press office did not say which school he worked at, but said he provided additional resources and support to the school community.
But local lawmakers said Saturday that Mohassib was discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps for psychiatric issues and served a brief stint with the NYPD before being hired in the city’s schools.
State Sen. Andrew Gounardes, Councilwoman Kayla Santosuosso and Assemblymember-elect Chris McCreight said in a joint statement that while Mohassib had no criminal record, his psychiatric history “raises serious questions about how he came to be employed at a local public school.”
Lawmakers demand a “thorough investigation into the circumstances of his hiring.”
The night of the attack, Suarez was doing his usual routine, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters at a recent press briefing.
She left her job at a nearby bank around 6:35 p.m., changed into gym clothes, met her mother who changed into her work clothes, then went for a run, he said.
Her father had also just gotten off work and planned to meet them both at a nearby Wendy’s restaurant and drive them home after Suarez finished jogging, according to Kenny.
At 7:56 p.m., her father called Suarez to see when she would arrive, and she told him she was about a half-mile away and would be there soon. Kenny said that when she did not arrive on time, the father went looking for her on the path and at 8:16 p.m., he found her unconscious under a tree, bleeding from her neck.
The path where she was attacked is a stretch of running and biking trail that is not covered by surveillance cameras, Kenny added. The trail follows the water from a pier in Bay Ridge to a large shopping center in Bath Beach. It is often crowded with runners, bikers and fishermen.
David Giambusso contributed reporting.
This is a developing story and has been updated with additional information.
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