Yaaliyah Jackson, an 18-year-old individual, was taken into custody on Saturday and charged with second-degree murder following his confession of stabbing his sister’s friend multiple times in her apartment. This incident occurred at the Elevate @ South Mountain apartment complex near Central Avenue and Dobbins Road, prompting a response from the Phoenix Police Department at around 5 p.m. According to court documents, Jackson contacted the authorities and agreed to wait at the scene for their arrival after engaging in a fight that led to the victim’s demise.
Upon arriving at the scene, officers discovered the lifeless body of the victim, identified as 53-year-old Zsolt Csaszar. Court documents revealed that the victim had sustained several stab wounds to his torso, with a large butcher knife still resting on top of his body. Despite detaining Jackson at the crime scene, there were no eyewitnesses to corroborate the events.
During the ensuing investigation, police determined that Csaszar was a friend of Jackson’s sister who had been granted permission to stay in the apartment, which Jackson subleased from his sister. Jackson, who claimed to have never met Csaszar before, alleged that an argument ensued between them over the cleanliness of the bathroom after Csaszar had taken a shower. The altercation escalated when Csaszar pushed Jackson into the kitchen area of the apartment.
Feeling threatened, Jackson admitted to brandishing a kitchen knife in an attempt to intimidate Csaszar. In a police interview, Jackson stated that Csaszar got in his face, prompting him to strike Csaszar in the head with the knife and subsequently stab him three times. Jackson justified his actions as self-defense due to the significant size difference between himself and Csaszar. The victim, weighing only 205 pounds and standing at 5 feet, 6 inches, paled in comparison to Jackson’s imposing 6 feet, 4 inches and 230-pound stature.
The altercation continued into a nearby bedroom, where Jackson subjected Csaszar to two to three additional stab wounds, as noted in court documents. Following the violent encounter, Jackson changed his shirt to conceal the copious amount of blood but opted to retain his socks, which still bore traces of blood, in order to avoid arousing suspicion.
While covered in blood, Jackson contacted his sister and chillingly confessed to killing Csaszar. Subsequently, Jackson was arrested and charged with second-degree murder on Saturday. He is currently being held on a $1,000,000 bond.
This article was originally featured on Arizona Republic: Teen arrested in stabbing death of sister’s friend in Phoenix apartment
