Man accused of fatal subway shove arraigned on murder charge
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A person wearing a face mask reading, “Stop Asian Hate,” attends a candlelight vigil in honor of Michelle Alyssa Go, a victim of a subway attack several days earlier, Tuesday, in New York’s Times Square.
NEW YORK >> The man accused of pushing a woman to her death in a New York City subway station was arraigned on a murder charge Wednesday and ordered held without bail.
Martial Simon, 61, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Michelle Alyssa Go, who was shoved in front of a subway train in the Times Square station on Saturday.
A mental fitness exam was ordered for Simon, who authorities said was on parole for a prior felony conviction at the time of the attack. His next court date is Feb. 23.
Authorities gave the defendant’s name as Simon Martial, but a spokesperson for New York County Defender Services, which is representing him, said his name is Martial Simon.
A vigil was held in Times Square on Tuesday night for Go, who was 40 years old and worked for the consulting firm Deloitte.
A prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney’s office said the office is seeking to determine whether the attack was motivated by racial bias against Go, who was Asian American.
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Simon’s attorney said there is no evidence of racial motivation.
“With so many unhoused people with unaddressed mental illness walking the streets of our city, it would be a shame if Mr. Simon was sacrificed at the altar of vengeful public opinion instead of seeking a deeper understanding of these complex issues now facing our society,” said H. Mitchell Schuman, of New York County Defender Services.
