BART identifies victim, suspect in fatal stabbing at Hayward station

A man suspected of stabbing a good Samaritan to death on a BART train was videoed near a car dealership, where he allegedly tried to steal two vehicles on Tuesday.

BART identified a man arrested in connection with a fatal stabbing on board a train at the transit agency's South Hayward station on Tuesday as 39-year-old Sacramento resident Jermaine Jeremiah Brim.

The stabbing occurred shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday during a fight on a Warm Springs-bound train as it approached the South Hayward station, BART interim police Chief Ed Alvarez said.

Officers responded and found the victim, a man in his 40s, suffering from stab wounds and a short time later he was pronounced dead. The victim was identified Wednesday as 49-year-old Oliver Williams of Oakland, according to the Alameda County Coroner's Office. 

KTVU has learned Brim was on psychiatric hold at San Leandro Hospital and walked away prior to the stabbing incident. 

Sources told KTVU that the victim was a good Samaritan who pulled out a knife to stop a man now identified as Brim from stealing shoes from another rider who was asleep on the train. Brim then disarmed the man of his own knife and allegedly stabbed him to death, the sources said.  

Alvarez said police were able to get a good description of the suspect and arrested Brim on Tennyson Road, about a block away from the train station.

The chief said the death is "tragic" and that a homicide aboard a BART train is "a rare occurrence."

The fatal stabbing prompted the closure of the South Hayward station for hours. The station reopened as of shortly after 5:15 p.m.

A gofundme has been created for the victim: https://www.gofundme.com/f/tyrone-oliver-williams

KTVU contributed to this report. 

BART released photo of Jermaine Jeremiah Brim of Sacramento. He is now at Santa Rita Jail in connection with yesterday's fatal stabbing Nov. 19, 2019