Yao Pan Ma was attacked in East Harlem in April last year. His alleged killer is behind bars at Rikers Island
An Asian man who was brutally beaten while collecting cans in New York City’s East Harlem neighborhood last April has died, the New Yorkreports. Yao Pan Ma, 61, died on Dec. 31 after he spent months in intensive medical care, including in an induced coma, following the April 23 incident.
Police arrested Jarrod Powell, a 50-year-old homeless man, in connection with the attack. Powell denied any hostility toward Asian people, but said he attacked Ma because he had been mugged a day earlier by “a Korean” and a Japanese man. Powell was charged with attempted murder and assault as a hate crime and transferred to Rikers Island, though his charges are expected to be upgraded to murder.