The father of a man accused of fatally stabbing a homeless man over the weekend said his son committed the murder because he wanted to be put away in jail.
"I said, 'Tell me what your bad thoughts are.' He said, 'I think I may have to hurt somebody just so I can get put away,'" Richard Stabile told NBC 6 South Florida.
His son, 23-year-old John Stabile, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of 42-year-old Bradley Suessine in Deerfield Beach, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office.
The slaying was reported at about 7 a.m. Saturday by John Stabile, the BSO said. When deputies responded to the 2000 block of North Ocean Drive in Deerfield Beach, he was sitting on a street curb with a weapon in his waistband, the agency said.
John Stabile told detectives he stabbed the man in the alley between Rattlesnake Jake’s restaurant and the Sea Girl clothing shop, the agency said. He then waited for him to die before calling to report the murder, the BSO added.
Richard Stabile said his son suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, manic depressive disorder and bipolar disorder.
"I never saw him smile his entire life except when he was in Little League playing tee ball," Richard Stabile said in tears. "If he came home, I could've had him. I would've had him. This might not have happened."
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But Richard Stabile said his sick son didn’t get the help he should have received.
"He is not the devil," he said. "He's a sick guy that didn't get the level of help he needed."
Richard Stabile said a crisis counselor from Henderson Behavioral Health, where his son was a patient, came to his home days before the alleged murder. The counselor left two hours later and said the 23-year-old just needed to relax, according to the father.
"It's an indictment on the mental health system in South Florida. Shame on them," Richard Stabile said. "No one had to lose their life for this kid to get the help he needs."
Stabile said his son couldn’t function in normal society.
"I just knew he struggled with life," he said crying. "He had no hatred for homeless people. He told the detectives he picked a homeless guy because he didn't want to wreck somebody's family."
Henderson Behavioral Health did not respond to calls from NBC 6 South Florida Monday.
