Death of Souleymane Magassouba: Beloved Philadelphia parking attendant killed in stabbing, remembered as friend and father

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — The victim of a fatal stabbing in West Philadelphia last week is being remembered as a dedicated colleague and loving father.

Philadelphia police officer Souleymane Magassouba He was stabbed at around 5.30am last Friday morning. -most Exxon gas station in the 200 block of N. 63rd Street in West Philadelphia.

Magassouba was rushed to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he died, police said.

“I couldn’t sleep for days,” an emotional Justin Sherlock told Action News Thursday afternoon. “I still have a hard time falling asleep. It’s on my mind every night.”

Sherlock had been working with Magassouba in a parking lot near Washington Square for the past three and a half years.

Sherlock described Magassouba, 31, as a great friend and colleague. Most importantly, he said, Magassouba was a loving father to his young daughter.

“At the end of the day, she came home to her daughter, took care of her daughter’s needs and made sure her daughter was okay,” Sherlock said.

Action News has learned Magassouba is from the Republic of Guinea but recently called West Philadelphia home.

For several years he worked as a parking attendant in the garage located under the Hopkinson House in Washington Square. Inside that garage, a picture of Magassouba hangs to warn people who lived in the building and parked in the garage about his death.

“He used to always want to help them all,” said Paul Miles, parking manager. “Many of them came to me crying when they found out what happened to her.”

“It’s not the same. It’s not the same. It’s not the same,” Miles added.

The men who run the garage have spent the last few days sharing the news with people like Lindsie Rank, who parks in the garage for work.

“He was such a good person and if I was having a bad day he would always cheer me up. Little moments like this make a big difference in people’s lives,” Rank said.

On Saturday, Philadelphia police arrested 46-year-old Kareem Graves and charged him with Magassouba’s murder. At this time, police have not released a motive for the stabbing.