DETROIT â A woman identified by relatives as Jaquoya was fatally stabbed in a downtown Detroit alley while taking a break from her job at Chipotle on Sunday afternoon, prompting a rapid search that ended with a man being taken into custody about 20 minutes later.
The attack happened at approximately 2:30 p.m. on September 20 near the 600 block of Woodward Avenue, close to East Congress Street. Detroit police said the victim, described in initial official accounts only as a woman in her 30s, encountered a man in an alley near the restaurant.
According to accounts provided by police to WXYZ and CBS News Detroit, the man approached the woman, pulled out a knife and stabbed her multiple times. Investigators said there appeared to have been very little interaction between the two before the violence began.
Despite her injuries, the woman managed to leave the alley and reach a nearby business, where she collapsed outside. Paramedics arrived within four minutes and transported her to a hospital, but she did not survive.
Witness followed suspect before camera search
An employee at another downtown business reportedly saw the man carrying a weapon and chased him as he fled. The witness eventually lost sight of him before officers reached the area.
Police then worked with downtown security partners, using surveillance cameras and other technology to reconstruct the suspectâs movements. A man believed to be in his 40s was located near Woodward Avenue and State Street and taken into custody roughly 20 minutes after the stabbing.
The suspect did not have the knife with him when he was detained, police said. Investigators later recovered an object believed to be the weapon and began processing it for evidence. FOX 2 Detroit also reported that the arrest occurred at Woodward and State.
Authorities had not publicly released the manâs name, announced criminal charges or identified a motive in the initial reports. Police also had not conclusively established whether the victim and suspect knew one another. Although the family has described the killing as random, investigators initially said only that the pair appeared to have had minimal contact before the attack.
Family raises support for Jaquoyaâs daughter
A fundraiser organized by Alicya Wix, who identifies herself as Jaquoyaâs sister, says Jaquoya worked at the downtown Chipotle and leaves behind a daughter named Kacya.
Wix wrote that Kacyaâs father died when she was a baby and that the child has been living with her grandmother. She said Jaquoya had been working to rebuild her life and put herself on a better path before she was killed.
The campaign is intended to pay for Jaquoyaâs burial and help cover her daughterâs future education and living expenses. Because the victimâs identity had not yet been formally released by police or the medical examiner in the initial coverage, her name and family details are attributed to the fundraiser.
Conflicting ages circulated on social media after the stabbing. One post described the victim as 20, while another claimed she was 34. Police-based reports consistently described her only as being in her 30s, meaning an exact age should not be considered confirmed until authorities or relatives provide further clarification.
The killing remains under investigation as detectives review surveillance footage, interview witnesses and process the suspected weapon. The case follows other recent fatal stabbing investigations, including the unrelated killing of UMass Dartmouth football player Marvins Antoine in Providence.
This is a developing story. Details may change as Detroit police and prosecutors release additional information.
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