Detroit Chipotle Worker Fatally Stabbed on Lunch Break in Unprovoked Attack

Jaquoya Wix, 34, was stabbed multiple times in an alley behind a downtown Detroit Chipotle while on her lunch break Sunday. A man in his 40s was taken into custody roughly 20 minutes after the attack.

Detroit mother killed in alley attack during lunch break from Chipotle shift

A 34-year-old mother was fatally stabbed Sunday afternoon behind a downtown Detroit Chipotle restaurant while on her lunch break, in what authorities described as an unprovoked attack, Law & Crime reports.

Jaquoya Wix had stepped away from her shift at the Chipotle on the 600 block of Woodward Avenue when a man in his 40s approached her in the alley behind the building at approximately 2:30 p.m. and stabbed her multiple times. Investigators have not publicly named the man arrested in connection with the killing.

Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield identified the attacker as "an individual suffering from severe mental health issues" and said he targeted Wix while she was taking a routine break from work. "She was a mother with a 15-year-old daughter who attends school in Detroit, who loved her and has suffered the immeasurable loss of her mom," Sheffield said in a statement.

Wix managed to flee the alley and reached a nearby business before collapsing. Emergency personnel transported her to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The suspect ran from the scene on foot, still carrying the knife. Police reviewed surveillance footage from cameras in the area and located him approximately 20 minutes after the attack, taking him into custody, according to local CBS affiliate WWJ. Authorities have not formally announced the charges he is facing.

Wix's sister, Alicya Wix, launched a GoFundMe campaign to cover funeral costs and support Jaquoya's daughter, Kacya. "Her passing was sudden and devastating, and our family is now facing the pain of laying her to rest while also trying to protect her daughter's future," the fundraising page reads. The campaign notes that Kacya's father died when she was an infant, that she has been living with her grandmother, and that Jaquoya had been working to rebuild her life and strengthen her relationship with her daughter.

Chipotle's chief corporate affairs and food safety officer, Laurie Schalow, issued a statement saying the company was "deeply saddened by the senseless act of violence that occurred today in downtown Detroit." Schalow added that the company is "cooperating fully" with investigators and hopes "the individual responsible is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

Source: Law & Crime