Jennifer Peltz and Caroline Thompson
NEW YORK (AP) — Police say a woman was pushed to death in front of a subway train at Times Square Station in New York City on Jan. 15, more than a week after the mayor and governor announced plans to step up subway policing and on New York City streets and reaching out to the homeless on the train.
Police Chief Keechant Sewell told a news conference with station mayor Eric Adams that the man believed he was responsible and fled the scene but handed himself over to transit police shortly after.
Michelle Alyssa goes
The 40-year-old victim, identified as Michelle Alyssa Go from New York, was apparently pushed while waiting for the southbound R train around 9:40 a.m., according to police.
“The incident was unprovoked and the victim did not appear to have had any interaction with the object,” Sewell said.
The second woman told police the man had approached her minutes earlier and she feared he would push her into orbit.
“He approached her and entered her space. She became very, very shocked,” Assistant Commissioner Jason Wilcox said, describing the earlier encounter. “She was trying to get away from him and he was approaching her and she felt like he was going to push her onto the train. As she walked away she witnessed his crime pushing another of our victims in front of the train.”
Simon Marshall
Police identified the suspect as 61-year-old Simon Martial. Police say Martial, who is homeless, has been charged with second-degree murder.
The attack on Asian Go has drawn attention at a time when anti-Asian hate crimes are on the rise in New York and across the country. Police officials said they were investigating the killing, including whether it was a hate crime, but noted that the woman allegedly first approached was not Asian. Martial is black.
“The recent attack that killed an Asian American woman at the Times Square subway station is especially horrific for our community,” said Margaret Margaret, executive director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. She said the community is still mourning 12 31 death of Chinese immigrant Yao Panma, who was attacked in April while collecting cans in East Harlem.
“These attacks leave Asian Americans vulnerable across the city and across the country, and they must stop,” Feng said in a statement.
Adams noted that the perception of danger could prompt more people to avoid the subway, complicating the city’s economic recovery as it tries to lure people back to offices, tourist attractions and more.
“We want to continue to emphasize the importance of people getting the right mental health services, especially on our subway system,” the mayor said. “Losing a New Yorker in this way will only continue to fuel fears of not using our subway system.”
“Our recovery depends on the public safety of the city and the subway system,” Adams said.
Under his predecessor Bill de Blasio, the city has repeatedly said it will deploy more police to the subway following last year’s attacks and pressure from traffic officials. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the agency that operates the subway system, accelerated work to install security cameras at all 472 subway stations across the city, completing the project in September.
However, the city has also faced repeated complaints about tough subway enforcement in recent years. For example, protests erupted after bystanders saw police handcuffing a woman they said was selling churros without a license at a subway station in 2019, the same year they beat a black teenager in a brawl on a subway platform.
