Hailey Hosford, Fort Lauderdale, Florida hairstylist, stabbed to death by Jackson Julian Sagesse at Sunrise luxury apartment complex garage. Male companion survives random attack.
A ‘glamorous’ Florida hairstylist was stabbed to death with a steak knife by a 280-pound assailant during a violent attack inside the parking garage of a luxury apartment complex.
Hailey Hosford, 27, had just stepped out of a rental car at the Retreat at Sawgrass Village in Sunrise on Wednesday when a man reportedly charged the vehicle, lunging at the front door and fatally stabbing her – along with injuring her male friend.
Jackson Julian Sagesse, 21, was arrested and booked into Broward County Jail on charges of murder and attempted murder.
Sunrise, Florida murder suspect boasts killing someone
‘I just killed someone and walked away,’ he bragged to cops after his Miranda rights were read, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by the nypost.
Just after 1.30am on Wednesday, Hosford and an unidentified male friend arrived at the parking garage at 3000 Northwest 130th avenue in a rented black Mercedes, WPLG News reported.
The 27-year-old Ford Lauderdale-based hairstylist remained in the car for a few minutes while her friend briefly went inside, planning to continue their drive shortly after.
‘He was going in there to grab some stuff, and then he was gonna take her home,’ Aubrey Rosebrock, Hosford’s friend, told WSVN News.
As she waited for her friend’s return, garage surveillance footage allegedly captured Sagesse approaching the vehicle, holding a metal object.
Unaware of the danger, Hosford began to step out of the car – only to suddenly realize that Sagesse was approaching the driver’s side.
In a panic, she allegedly tried to climb back into the car to shield herself in what cops described as a random attack.
‘She noticed he was charging her, and he forced himself into the car before she had time to shut the door,’ Rosebrock told WSVN.
Hailey Hosford male companion survives random knife attack
A violent struggle ensued, with security footage capturing the suspect making repeated stabbing motions into the vehicle.
Hosford’s friend returned from the apartment just moments later and confronted Sagesse, who then got out of the car.
The two men became entangled in a violent confrontation, resulting in the 21-year-old suspect reportedly stabbing the man in his throat.
The wounded friend survived and managed to escape, calling police for help.
Sagesse then allegedly returned to the vehicle and tried to flee the scene in the rental car, but was unable to get it moving.
Security footage also captured the suspect searching the area – seemingly looking for any evidence left behind – before eventually leaving the garage.
When responding officers arrived they found Hosford unresponsive inside the car, suffering from multiple stab wounds to her neck and throat.
The hairstylist was pronounced dead at 2.01am. Her friend was taken to the hospital for treatment.
‘I know she was a fighter – I believe she fought, and I believe she was scared,’ Rosebrock told WSVN.
‘She was a force to be reckoned with, she really was,’ he added.
Hosford’s friend remembered the last time he heard from her, telling the station, ‘Her very last message to me was, ‘I just wanted to tell you that the sun is shining, the sky is blue, the water is turquoise, and that I love you much, and that you mean the world to me,’ and that was the very last thing she said.’
Employees of the apartment building identified Sagesse from the security footage and provided police with the unit number of the home he shared with his mother at the complex.
When authorities arrived at his home, Sagesse was found still wearing the same clothes seen in the security footage. Inside the home, detectives found smeared blood on the back door and discovered that two kitchen knives – matching the description of the murder weapon – were missing.
Fort Lauderdale hairstylist remembered
Sagasse was arrested, with the suspect allegedly boasting about ‘just walking away’ after killing someone, while having his Miranda rights were read.
Though Sagesse’s statements to police were reportedly inconsistent, he claimed that he was on his way to the gym when he noticed the Mercedes rental in the garage with its lights still on.
He allegedly told law enforcement that he tried to call 911 about the suspicious vehicle but didn’t have his phone, so he instead returned to the apartment, grabbed a knife and said he intended to use it for ‘personal protection.’
Cops said, Sagesse claimed that he was ‘murdering for self-defense’, while not stating the alleged threat that justified his actions.
He was charged with premeditated murder and attempted first-degree murder, and was booked into the Broward County Jail, where he remains held without bail.
The 27-year-old businesswoman was the owner of a beauty salon in Fort Lauderdale and also served as a teacher and ambassador for a yoga and retreat company.
‘Our family is destroyed. This is beyond horrific,’ Rich Ehmke, Hosford’s stepfather, said in a statement according to NBC Miami.
‘We wish this upon no family to deal with something like this,’ he added. ‘It’s really incomprehensible based on all the facts and the situation is senseless.’
‘Our prayers are with our family and we’re looking above to Hailey and it’s beyond devastation and sadness.’
