Yaaliyah E. Jackson (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office)
An 18-year-old man in Arizona was arrested over the weekend for allegedly killing his sister’s friend, stabbing the 53-year-old man several times because the victim wouldn’t clear his things from the suspect’s bathroom quickly enough after taking a shower. Yaaliyah E. Jackson was taken into custody on Saturday and charged with one count of second-degree murder in the slaying of Zsolt Csaszar, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a report from the Arizona Republic, officers with the Phoenix Police Department at about 5 p.m. on Oct. 21 responded to a call about an adult male being stabbed at The Elevate at South Mountain apartment complex located in the 8000 block of South Central Avenue. The caller — later identified as Jackson — allegedly told the emergency dispatcher that he and the victim had gotten into a fight inside the apartment, and insisted that he had to “drop him.”
Jackson agreed to stay at the residence and wait for authorities.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders reportedly entered the apartment and located Csaszar in the bedroom. He appeared to have suffered multiple stab wounds to the torso and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police recovered a butcher knife that was left on top of Csaszar’s body.
Court documents obtained by Phoenix CBS affiliate KPHO state that Jackson had been subletting the Elevate at South Mountain apartment from his sister. On the morning of Oct. 21, the sister reportedly called Jackson and asked if he could allow her friend, Csaszar, into the apartment to stay for a few days. Csaszar was not from the area and he and Jackson had never met prior to him showing up later that day.
After arriving at the apartment, Csaszar reportedly took a shower. Jackson told police that when Csaszar was finished, he asked the visitor to get his personal items out of the bathroom. Csaszar allegedly told Jackson to “wait,” and the situation quickly escalated into a physical confrontation.
According to a report from Phoenix Fox affiliate KSAZ, Jackson claimed that Csaszar pushed him multiple times, causing him to end up in the kitchen, which is when Jackson said he grabbed a knife from the butcher block. Jackson said he only meant to “scare” Csaszar, but said he felt threatened because the other man, “got in my face.”
“Intending to scare the victim, [Jackson] struck the victim in the head with the knife,” police reportedly wrote in the probable cause affidavit. “[Jackson] stated he stabbed the victim approximately three times with the knife in the kitchen area. The males continued to ‘tussle into the bedroom,’ where [Jackson] stabbed the victim two to three more times.”
Despite his claim of feeling threatened, police reportedly noted in the affidavit that Jackson stood 6’4″ and weighed 230 pounds while Csaszar was 5’6″ and weighed 205 pounds. Jackson also allegedly stated that Csaszar never had a weapon throughout the ordeal.
After stabbing Csaszar, Jackson allegedly said he called his sister to recount the fight and inform her that he had killed Csaszar, per the Republic.
Jackson is currently being held in Maricopa County Jail in lieu of $1,000,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court again on Friday.
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