Man Died 9 Days After Being Pushed Onto Subway Tracks

UPDATE Mar 26, 2026 4:48 PM CDT

An attack that initially left an 83-year-old New Yorker hospitalized has now become a homicide case. Police on Wednesday said Richard Williams died on March 17, nine days after they say he was shoved onto the subway tracks at Manhattan's Lexington Avenue–63rd Street station. Bairon Hernandez, 34, was arrested on March 10 and is accused of pushing both Williams and a 30-year-old man onto the tracks in what has been described as an unprovoked assault. Gothamist reports that following Williams' death, the Manhattan district attorney upgraded the charges to include murder. The AP reports Hernandez is a Honduran national who the Department of Homeland Security says entered the country illegally in 2008 and has been deported four times since.

Mar 10, 2026 5:55 AM CDT

Two men waiting for a Manhattan subway train were shoved onto the tracks Sunday in what police say was an unprovoked attack, with the suspect still on the loose. Investigators say a man came up behind a 30-year-old standing on the southbound F/Q platform at the Lexington Avenue–63rd Street station around 11:30am and pushed him off. Moments later, the same assailant allegedly shoved an 83-year-old man off the platform as well, reports NBC News.

Bystanders pulled both victims back to safety before any train arrived. The older man was hospitalized in critical condition; the younger victim, identified as John Rodriguez, suffered less serious injuries. He told NBC he was terrified a train would arrive while he was trapped on the tracks. The suspect, last seen wearing a gray jacket, red sweatshirt, and light-colored pants, fled the station on foot, per AM New York. Police on Monday released photos of the suspect and are asking anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.