Burlington police on Tuesday arrested a Winooski man for fatally stabbing another man early Saturday.
Hassan O. Haji, 24, surrendered to police and was scheduled to be arraigned later Tuesday on a charge of second-degree murder. He’s accused of stabbing Deng Dau, 24, a single time in the groin during a fight involving a third young man.
The incident occurred around 4 a.m. on Saturday in the parking lot behind the civil courthouse on Main Street; nearby officers responded immediately, according to police. Dau was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injury.
The stabbing occurred during a particularly violent weekend in Burlington that the city’s mayor called “deeply upsetting.”
Dau graduated from Champlain Valley Union High School and played on the basketball team. A GoFundMe created for his family said he was known for his “incredible sense of humor and kind heart.”
“He had a way of bringing laughter and joy to the people around him,” the page reads.
This post will be updated.
