'Best dad I could ask for': Family mourns loss of father stabbed in 'random MARTA attack'

ATLANTA - The family of a man stabbed and killed in what MARTA police are calling a random attack at a downtown train station says they lost a devoted father.  

Marcala Harris says she was so excited to meet up with her dad after school Monday.   

"He was excited because we were going out to eat today, right after I got out of school," she said. "He was the best dad I could ask for."

Marcus Harris (Photo submitted by family)

Instead, she got a phone call from her mom saying her father, Marcus Harris, had been killed.   

"I was like, ‘Why? Why him? He didn't do nothing to nobody.' It just looked like they just wanted to pick somebody and they chose him," Harris said.  

Marcala’s mother Tan Slayton says he was a wonderful father and family man.

Marcus Harris and his daughter, Marcala. (Photo submitted by family)

"Our daughter is going to be 17, and he took care of her, always talked with her and called. He was the most selfless person," Slayton told FOX 5 with tears in her eyes. "This dad loved his kids, loved his daughter."

MARTA police say the victim was stabbed on the northbound platform at the Five Points Station at around 8 a.m. Monday. 

MARTA Police Maj. Eugene Roberts says it was a random attack.

"They did not know each other," he said. "It’s just a random act of violence."

Roberts says there were MARTA Police officers present on the train and on the platform at the time of the attack.   

It wasn’t enough to deter the stabbing.

"There was officers on the train when this incident happened. That's why the arrest was made so quickly," Maj. Roberts said.  

Officers arrested Jason Harris immediately after the stabbing.

Jason Harris

They charged him with aggravated assault and murder. 

Fox 5 asked Roberts whether they plan to beef up security on the platforms after this attack.   

"It's not just after this attack. We were planning on beefing up the stations anyway," he said.  

But he said he couldn’t give specifics on how.  

We followed up with MARTA Police and they told us they have K9 officers and protective specialists that patrol the stations alongside the regular officers to provide extra Police presence. 

As well as employees in the Police Communications Center that monitor the CCTV cameras on trains and platforms to provide extra eyes for the officers. 

And their officers ride the trains from when they start running to when they stop, seven days a week.  

Meanwhile, Marcala says she just can’t understand why her father had to be the victim of this random attack.   

"I don’t understand why they picked my dad, out of all people they chose him…and that hurts! Because I won’t wake up and hear his voice again," she said