A New York City Department of Education employee is facing a murder charge in the stabbing death of a 28-year-old woman last week in Brooklyn, authorities announced Saturday.
Katie Suarez was stabbed while joggingalong the Shore Parkway greenway in Brooklyn on the evening of Oct. 30.
Her father found Suarez injured along the path. She was rushed to the hospital with astab wound to her neckbut ultimately died from her injuries.
On Saturday, the NYPD said it had arrested 27-year-old Sayed Mohassib, of Bath Beach, Brooklyn. Mohassib is charged with second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, and criminal possession of a weapon. Mohassib, wearing flip flops and a red jacket, did not answer any questions when police walked him out of the 62nd Precinct Saturday afternoon.
The circumstances leading to Suarez’s killing were not immediately clear. It also wasn’t immediately clear what led police to Mohassib.
NYPD sources say he made statements claiming he “blacked out” and doesn’t remember hurting anyone. Mohassib was taken in for questioning Friday, police sources said, but they have not yet shared details on how they tied him to the crime.
Police sources say Mohassib and Suarez both attended Brooklyn College at the same time, but right now there’s no evidence that they knew each other.
NYPD 
The suspect is an employee of the New York City Department of Education. Police sources say he worked at Public School 200 in Brooklyn, and that he was also a member of the NYPD in field training in the Bronx from October to November 2022.
Elected officials said he was employed as a teacher’s aide and police sources say he was on the job at PS 200 near the precinct this past week.
“The safety of our students is our very top priority. We have suspended this individual and will move to terminate employment pending the outcome of the conviction. We are supporting the NYPD in their investigation however is needed,” the Department of Education said in a statement.
Mohassib’s employment with the DOE has raised questions by elected officials. City Councilmember Kayla Santosuosso, State Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember-elect Chris McCreight said in a joint statement Mohassib “was evidently a mentally disturbed man with no criminal record” who had been “an ex-NYPD officer and ex-Marine who was discharged from the military on psychiatric grounds.”
“Troublingly though, at the time of the attack, he was a DOE employee, serving as a teacher’s aide in a public school,” they said. “This last revelation raises serious questions about how he came to be employed in a local public school and warrants a full investigation into the circumstances of his hiring and continued employment.”
Suarez’s killing prompted shock and outrage throughout New York City, along with an intense search by the NYPD for her killer.
Pedestrians on the greenway reacted to word of the arrest Saturday.
“Definitely a relief,” said Anatoly Bogdanov. “Everybody was concerned that he is out there and he is dangerous.”
“I was very surprised, because I feel it’s a very safe area,” said Yana Tomacheva. “I think it’s a little bit of relief. I guess relief and hopefully, potentially, some closure for her family.”
“We want to make sure that he’s held accountable,” Rev. Erick Salgado said. “We hope that justice is done. I know that nothing is going to give them back their daughter, but he will be praying that at least this will come to a closure.”
“My younger one is still at PS 200 and this is really disturbing,” Bogdanov said.
Earlier this week, Katie’s anguished mother Yasira Suarez had called on the suspect to turn themselves in, saying “you took an angel.”