A subway rider caught taking up two seats on the A train at Columbus Circle was being written up by police when they learned he was wanted in a deadly stabbing of a Brooklyn grandmother earlier this year, according to authorities.
Transit police approached 43-year-old Gregory White, of Brooklyn, when they saw him "manspreading," taking up an extra seat with his leg, according to police.
When they ran his name while writing a summons, they discovered he was a suspect in the January stabbing death of Victoria Hammond, 58, in Coney Island, police said.
Law enforcement sources said when he was questioned, White admitted to killing Hammond, with whom he was acquainted.
Hammond was found in a pool of blood with more than two dozen stab wounds inside her basement apartment on West 37th Street, according to family and friends.
"He hit her upside the head and stabbed her 26, 27 times," said one of the family friends and relatives who went to the Brooklyn courtroom where White was being arraigned on a second-degree murder charge Thursday evening.
"I wanted to see who would do something to a lovely lady like that," he said.
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"I got a little bit of closure," said Jah Hammond, one of the victim's four sons. "Everyday I was waking up wondering why someone would kill my mother."
Sources said White claimed he stabbed Hammond in self-defense when he was questioned, which angered Hammond's family.
"She was the best person you'll ever meet in your life," said Jah Hammond, calling Hammond a loving mother and grandmother.
"I just want to see him rot in hell," said the family friend.
It wasn't immediately clear if White had an attorney.
