A 39-year-old Queens man has been arrested on attempted murder and assault charges for allegedly shoving a 35-year-old woman into a subway in Manhattan without provocation, leaving her critically injured, authorities say.
Police said that Kamal Semrade had been arrested Tuesday morning, and was expected to face a judge later the same night. It wasn't clear if he had an attorney, nor was it clear if the NYPD was previously familiar with him.
The victim, later identified as Emine Yilmaz, did not know his name, according to the NYPD. Cops say it was an apparently wordless, random attack by a stranger at the Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street station on Sunday.
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According to the NYPD, Semrade allegedly came up from behind the woman and shoved her head into an E train, which was preparing to depart the station. She fell backward onto the platform and was taken to a hospital for treatment of lacerations to her head as well as a diagnosed spinal fracture, officials say.
A witness, Nancy Marrero, said she saw Yilmaz walking along the platform as the train started to move, which is when the suspect allegedly attacked.
"I just see him walk up besides her to her left side and with palms open just shove her head onto the train as it moved...He just took both hands, not at her body, aimed specifically at her head like he wanted the head to hit. So when he shoved her into it, so her head hit and her body like tumbling in a circle and she just dropped onto the platform," said Marrero.
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That's when the man took off, and Marrero screamed out loud. She then rushed to the victim's aid.
"Why would you do that to her? I go up to her and I kneel down and I was like, 'Are you OK? Are you OK?'" Marrero asked, as Yilmaz was bleeding and not moving. "When she landed, because she tumbled she landed on her stomach with her hand like this and this arm twisted and she said 'I have no feeling to my arm.'"
Marrero comforted Yilmaz, who was asking if she was going to die as her forehead was "split from the front all the way to the back," the good Samaritan said. She was so badly bloodied the woman's Face ID feature on her phone didn't recognize her, Marrero said. She stayed with Yilmaz until first responders arrived.
"I was rubbing her back. Consoling her because she wanted to go to sleep. Her eyes kept opening, she said I feel weak. Oh my god she broke my heart," Marrero said. "I stood with her to the very end. To the very end."
Yilmaz remained hospitalized in critical condition with severe injuries on Tuesday.
There was no immediate update from police or the hospital on the woman's condition Tuesday.
A GoFundMe page to help raise funds for her staggering medical bills, which the organizer says already top six digits, raised nearly $8,000 of its $200,000 goal on Day 1.
The page describes the woman as a "source of joy as a friend, colleague and human being. She's artistic, lighthearted, witty, and above all, someone we consider family," it says.
Friends and family were initially told the prognosis was poor as far as her ability to regain movement below her neck, but they say she's already proving the doubters wrong. Still, she has a long road to recovery ahead.
The MTA said it was pleased by the swift arrest.
"The NYPD acted quickly, using pictures from MTA cameras, to arrest a suspect and start delivering justice to the victim, who is in our thoughts at this terrible time," NYC Transit President Richard Davey said in a statement. "It’s now up to prosecutors to pursue maximum consequences available under the law."
