Woman’s fatal stabbing was caught on video, authorities say
Tia Mack was stabbed and left to die on a Fort Lauderdale sidewalk. Police say the man who wielded the knife was behind bars within 48 hours.
Mack was found after 6 a.m. Saturday, along the 1000 block of Sistrunk Boulevard. The person who found Mack called 911 and first responders rushed to the location.
But Mack could not be saved. Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue arrived and pronounced her dead.
Two women who were at the crime scene Saturday afternoon said Mack had been stabbed multiple times.
After a brief police chase on State Road 7 and U.S. 441 early Monday, Joseph Jean was arrested in Palm Beach County and charged in Mack’s death.
Assistant State Attorney Eric Linder said in court Tuesday that the knife attack was caught on surveillance video and was also seen by an eyewitness.
During police questioning, Jean, 51, confessed to killing Mack, Linder said.
Mack lived roughly two blocks away from where she was killed, records show.
On Saturday afternoon, Mack’s friend, Patricia Ware, visited the memorial site that was piled with stuffed animals and colored pinwheels near the spot where Mack died. Blood stains were visible on the sidewalk nearby.
Ware told the Sun Sentinel she was not a witness, but a friend called her to tell her what happened.
“One of my friends called me and told me something happened between her and a guy and she was walking off — when she turned around, he stabbed her,” Ware said. “She didn’t deserve that. She was a loving, sweet person who had a good heart. She didn’t have a mom. She didn’t have a dad. She was a very loving, caring person.”
Ware said Mack had gotten out of jail two days before her murder.
Broward County court records show Mack had a total of 13 felony cases, including charges of aggravated bodily harm with a deadly weapon and cocaine possession that were pending.
“She didn’t deserve this,” Ware said again. “People go through stuff. That man has got to pay for what he did.”
Jean has been charged with premeditated murder and is being held without bond at the Broward Jail.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective J. Saint-Jean at 954-828-5570.
