Authorities are investigating the death of a 40-year-old Asian woman who was pushed to her death onto the train tracks at a Times Square subway station in an “unprovoked” attack, police said Saturday morning.
She is in custody of 61-year-old Simon Martial, who turned himself in after the incident and was charged with murder, New York Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said. His criminal history includes multiple prior arrests and he has been on probation, sources told our sister network. News 4.
Investigators believe the man is homeless.
“This incident was unprovoked and the victim does not appear to have had any interaction with the subject,” Sewell said.
The victim, identified as Michelle Alyssa Go, was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity has not yet been released by the NYPD.
Subway riders alerted transit police after the woman fell onto the tracks at the Q/R platform near 42nd Street and Broadway around 9:39 a.m.
At a news conference Saturday afternoon with a host of city officials, police said the suspect initially attacked another woman on the platform before becoming physically violent with the 40-year-old victim.
“He walks up to her and gets into her space. He gets very, very alarmed,” said Deputy Chief Jason Wilcox, who described the earlier encounter. “She tries to get away from him and he got closer to her, and she feels like he was about to physically push her onto the train. As he walks away, he witnesses the crime in which he pushes our other victim in front of the train.”
“He has in the last three emotionally disturbed encounters that we have documented,” she said. Wilcox.
In recent months there have been several cases of people being stabbed, assaulted or pushed onto the tracks at stations in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Times Square.
Eric Adams, who has been the city’s mayor for two weeks, has pointed out that the perception of danger could lead more people to avoid the subway, complicating the city’s economic recovery as it tries to lure people into offices. , tourist attractions and more.
“We want to continue to highlight how imperative it is that people receive the proper mental health services, particularly in our subway system,” the mayor said Saturday. “Losing a New Yorker in this way will only continue to raise the fears of people who don’t use our subway system.”
State Senator John Liu called on the city to take immediate action to help people in need of mental health services after several high-profile attacks on Asians in a week.
“It’s 2022 and Asians in New York City and across the United States still experience unrelenting, hate-fueled attacks on a regular basis,” Liu said in a statement. “Mayor Adams has shown tremendous promise in his commitment to addressing public safety, but the hate doesn’t care who’s in office.”
New York City saw a significant increase in anti-Asian hate crimes last year. Police data shows that incidents targeting Asians increased by 361 percent in December 2021, NBC News reported.
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