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NYC Subway Shove Suspect Charged as Prosecutors Say 83-Year-Old Victim Is Brain Dead

ICE requested a detainer after disclosing four prior deportations.

Overview

  • Police arrested 34-year-old Bairon Hernandez at a Brooklyn homeless shelter and charged him with attempted murder, assault and related offenses in the March 8 attacks.
  • Prosecutors identified the older victim as Air Force veteran Richard Williams, 83, and said he is currently brain dead; the 30-year-old victim was hospitalized in stable condition.
  • The unprovoked shoves occurred minutes apart on the southbound platform at Lexington Avenue–63rd Street, where bystanders pulled both men from the tracks as cellphone video showed the assailant walking away.
  • DHS said Hernandez, a Honduran national, was deported four times and has at least 15 prior charges, and ICE has lodged a detainer while urging local authorities to honor it.
  • NYPD data show nine subway push incidents so far this year compared with three at this point last year, sharpening focus on transit safety.