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A 20-year-old man sentenced to more than 75 years in prison for stabbing five people during a livestreamed attack in the central Türkiye city of Eskisehir died by suicide in his prison cell on Sunday evening, according to local reports.
Arda Kucukyetim had been held in pretrial detention since August 2024, when he attacked five people with a knife at a tea garden in Eskisehir's Tepebasi district.
He died roughly one year and ten months into his detention. His body was taken to the morgue at Eskisehir City Hospital for an autopsy, and an investigation into his death has been opened.
The assault took place in August 2024 at Sehit Rustem Demirbas Park in the Uluonder neighborhood of Tepebasi.
Wearing a helmet, ski mask, protective goggles and a tactical vest, Kucukyetim approached a tea garden in the park and stabbed five people: Tevfik Arslan, 72, Cumali Ozemek, 58, Nasit Ozyurek, 88, Metin Korkmaz, 65, and Cemal Altintas, 52.
Kucukyetim filmed the attack using a phone fixed to his tactical vest and broadcast the footage live on his social media account as it unfolded. He was apprehended by police shortly after the attack and arrested on charges of attempted murder with intent and making threats to create fear and panic among the public.
Kucukyetim stood trial at Eskisehir's 6th High Criminal Court while in pretrial detention. In a verdict hearing held in September of the previous year, the court convicted him of premeditated attempted murder and of making threats to create fear and panic, sentencing him to a combined 75 years and 5 months in prison.
Kucukyetim was taken into custody at the Eskisehir Courthouse on August 18, 2024, and remained in detention until his death. Authorities have not released further details on the circumstances of his death, and the investigation remains ongoing.
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