"I'm so glad she wasn't alone": Sister describes strangers who tried to help woman stabbed in Detroit alley

Alicya Wix wears sunglasses now to cover the redness around her eyes. The tears have been almost constant since Sunday, when her sister was stabbed to death in an alley near the downtown Detroit Chipotle where she worked.

"One moment we're good, one moment we're crying," she said. "It doesn't feel real. It feels like she's just gonna walk through the door."

Jaquoya Wix, 34, had worked at the Chipotle on Woodward Avenue for about a year and a half. She was on a break Sunday afternoon, around 2:30 p.m., when a man approached her in the alley and stabbed her multiple times, Detroit police said. She ran to a nearby business and collapsed outside, and investigators say multiple witnesses tried to help her.

"I'm so glad she wasn't alone," Alicya Wix said. "I can't imagine how scared she was, and I just can't even believe she had to go through that."

Family members describe Jaquoya Wix as funny, talkative, compassionate and a storyteller. Her aunt, Anna Solis, said she was proud of her job and expected to be promoted soon.

"She thought they were going to make her manager soon, and she was very proud," Solis said. "She loved her daughter to death. That was her main priority."

Her sister said she gave what she could. "She was really caring and helpful. She didn't have a lot to give physically, but she would help clean my house or watch my son for me while I was working."

A GoFundMe to cover funeral costs and support Wix's daughter has raised more than the family expected. Solis said the response has been overwhelming, and that she's grateful for the support.

Police arrested a man about 20 minutes after the stabbing, using downtown cameras and other technology to find him, CBS News Detroit reported. He remains in custody, and it's not clear when he will be arraigned.

Detroit police have not said whether Wix and the man knew each other. Mayor Mary Sheffield said Sunday that it appeared to be an unprovoked attack by a person "suffering from severe mental health issues."

"It's just really hard to not be angry at somebody that took a life, and she had so much more to live for," Alicya Wix said.

A candlelight vigil is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday outside the Chipotle on Woodward Avenue.

"It's gotten so much bigger than I could have possibly imagined," Alicya Wix said. "That just shows you kind of person she was, and she's just such a good person. I'm just gonna miss her a lot."