Police say the suspect in Tuesday’s deadly Broadway knife attack told officers he killed the victim over the theft of a phone charging cord, according to court records filed in the case.

Sana Ceesay, 53, is being held after the court found probable cause for first-degree murder, the King County Prosecutor’s Office said Wednesday.

Fontaine Jackson, 45, was attacked on the sidewalk outside the gas station at Broadway and Pike just after 3:30 AM Tuesday. CHS reported on the emergency response as Ceesay was detained by private security working in the area before being arrested by police. Jackson suffered multiple stab wounds to his neck and back and died at the scene.

According to the police report on the incident, witnesses tried to stop the attack, pelting Ceesay with a rock and finally using pepper spray to send him fleeing from the scene. Police say Ceesay was treated at Harborview before being booked into King County Jail.

Police say witnesses described a brutal attack with Jackson running from the knife-wielding Ceesay on Broadway where he fell to the ground and the assault continued. According to witness accounts, Ceesay continued to stab the victim “5-7 times” while he was on the ground and made a “sawing motion.” One witness said the victim yelled “something to the effect of ‘why are you doing this, I don’t even know you'” during the attack.

(Image: SDOT)

Video captured by the Seattle Department of Transportation traffic camera at the intersection shows two men running across Broadway onto the sidewalk in front of the service station. The man in pursuit can be seen making repeated stabbing motions as the chase ends with the victim down on the sidewalk and the assault continuing for 30 more seconds until witnesses run toward the scene and begin to drive the attacker off. The victim lies motionless as the man flees.

Police say Ceesay admitted to stabbing the victim and claimed Jackson had a knife and had stolen the charging cord to his phone. “I wanted to end his suffering,” Ceesay told police about continuing the attack after the victim fell, according to the report.

According to records, Ceesay has provided the location of Seattle shelter facilities as his home address in past criminal cases including an arrest five years ago for using a weapon for intimidation. Jackson has also experienced homelessness and was listed at the address of a Pioneer Square facility in the police report from a recent arrest for harassment at a Seattle Trader Joe’s.

Prosecutors say they are working on charges in the case this week. Ceesay remains jailed on $2 million bail.

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