New York City’s school system hired a man as a classroom aide years after the Marine Corps discharged him for being psychologically unfit — and police say he later stabbed a jogger to death on a Brooklyn street.
Story Snapshot
- Sayed Mohassib, 27, faces second-degree murder charges in the October 30 stabbing death of 28-year-old jogger Katie Suarez.
- Mohassib previously served as an NYPD officer and a Marine before working as a Department of Education substitute aide.
- The Marines discharged him in 2022 for psychological unfitness, a fact a former deputy chancellor says should have raised red flags.
- DOE insiders describe a hiring pipeline strained by staffing shortages and heavy reliance on principal recommendations.
- The Department of Education has suspended Mohassib and says it will seek his termination, but has not detailed what its background check found.
A Deadly Stabbing on a Brooklyn Jogging Path
Katie Suarez, 28, was fatally stabbed while jogging in Brooklyn on October 30. Police arrested Sayed Mohassib, 27, and charged him with second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, and criminal possession of a weapon. Mohassib worked as a Department of Education substitute paraprofessional at the time of the killing. The arrest is an accusation, not a conviction, but it has already reshaped a debate over how the city screens the adults it puts in front of children.
Mohassib’s background sets this case apart from a typical hiring dispute. He previously served as an NYPD officer and as a U.S. Marine before landing the school job. He reportedly could not return to the police force, and the Marine Corps discharged him in 2022 for psychological unfitness, according to reporting on his military record.
A Résumé That Raised Questions, in Hindsight
Former Deputy Chancellor Eric Nadelstern said Department of Education employees go through Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background checks, and that a psychological discharge from the military “should have raised red flags”. He described a possible pathway where a psychologist signs off on an applicant managing mental-health issues, suggesting the discharge alone would not have automatically blocked Mohassib from being hired.
John Ricottone, president of Community Education Council 20, called for mental-health evaluations on top of existing background checks. Reporting also noted that substitute paraprofessionals typically need a recommendation from the principal at the school where they work, meaning a single administrator’s judgment can carry significant weight in who gets hired.
Insiders Describe a System Under Strain
A source familiar with Department of Education hiring told the New York Post that screenings exist but “become congested,” blaming “financial constraints and operational inefficiencies” and calling for faster vetting. That claim has not been backed by named officials, case files, or processing-time data, and no public record yet shows the specific contents of Mohassib’s background check or whether it missed a disqualifying flag.
It also remains unclear whether the Department of Education ever had legal access to the details of Mohassib’s psychological discharge, since military and medical records carry privacy protections that can block employers from seeing the full picture. That gap leaves a central question unanswered: did the system fail, or was the information simply never available to reviewers in the first place?
The Department’s Guarded Response
The Department of Education said in a statement that “the safety of our students is our very top priority,” confirming it suspended Mohassib and would move to terminate him “pending the outcome of the conviction” while supporting the police investigation. The agency has not explained what its background check turned up, whether any exceptions were made, or whether staffing shortages affected his case specifically.
City rules already require a background investigation and clearance for anyone working in public schools, under Chancellor’s Regulation C-105. A broader national study found 86 to 93 percent of public school systems use criminal background checks, yet state rules vary widely on when checks happen and what records get searched, a gap that has made schools increasingly vulnerable to liability claims over missed warning signs.
What Remains Unproven
No evidence so far shows the Department of Education’s background check failed to catch a disqualifying criminal record, nor does any record confirm the agency knew the specifics of Mohassib’s psychological discharge before hiring him. The arrest establishes a horrific alleged crime, but it does not by itself prove the hiring process was broken. Families and advocates on both sides of the political spectrum are left asking the same question: who is actually watching the people watching their kids?
Sources:
nypost.com, nydailynews.com, brooklyn.news12.com, cbsnews.com, infohub.nyced.org
