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The 83-year-old Air Force veteran who was shoved onto the subway tracks at an Upper East Side station earlier this month has died from his injuries, and the man accused of pushing him now faces murder charges.
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Richard Williams had been in critical condition at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell since the March 8 attack at the Lexington Avenue–63rd Street station. His daughter had told the New York Daily News shortly after the incident that he was on life support and not expected to survive.Bairon Hernandez, 34, of Brooklyn, was arrested on March 10 and initially charged with attempted murder. Court records show the charges against him were upgraded Wednesday to murder following Williams’ death, the Daily News reports. Hernandez had pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court earlier this month, where bail was set at $100,000 cash and $300,000 bond. He is due to be arraigned Monday on the new charges.
As East Side Feed previously reported, the attack took place at around 11:30 a.m. on March 8, when Hernandez allegedly shoved a 30-year-old man and Williams off the southbound F/Q platform without saying a word. Good Samaritans pulled both victims from the tracks before a train arrived. The younger victim, Jhon Rodriguez, was treated and released from the same hospital.
Williams, a grandfather who lived on Roosevelt Island, was on his way to get sushi on the Upper East Side when he was attacked — a routine trip he made regularly, his family said. A cancer survivor, he had recently celebrated his 55th wedding anniversary and was enjoying an active retirement after a career making bulletproof equipment.
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His family said he had three daughters, whom he raised on Long Island, and two granddaughters.Police and U.S. Marshals arrested Hernandez after the NYPD released surveillance images — shared on the department’s Instagram — and offered a $3,500 reward. The images were captured by Rodriguez himself while he was stranded on the tracks.
According to the NYPD, there have been nine subway push incidents so far this year — up from three at this point last year.
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