Homeless man shoves stranger to her death in Times Square subway station, then confesses: NYPD sources
NEW YORK — An oft-arrested homeless man silently shoved an unsuspecting stranger to her death beneath a Times Square subway train Saturday morning, then quickly confessed to the heinous attack, authorities said.
Michelle Alyssa Go was randomly targeted about 9:30 a.m. by Simon Martial, 61, as she waited for the R train in the Times Square-42nd St. station, a high-ranking police source said.
There was no indication that the pair spoke or had any interaction before the deadly attack, said police. Go, a 40-year-old Asian woman who lived on the Upper West Side, was pronounced dead at the scene, cops said.
“I pushed a woman in front of a train,” the deranged suspect told police after surrendering without incident, according to a second source. The suspect has a documented history of mental health issues with the NYPD, the second police source added, and there was no indication that the killing was a hate crime.
“A New Yorker was going about her business, right in the heart of our city and right in the heart of our subway system in Times Square, when she lost her life,” said MTA Acting Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber. “This is unconscionable, this is unacceptable, it has to stop.”
During the suspect’s nine minutes inside the station, he also targeted another female straphanger on the platform — with the woman escaping her assailant only to witness the fatal shove of the second rider seconds later, said NYPD Assistant Chief Jason Wilcox.
“He approaches her, he gets in her space,” said Wilcox. “She gets ... very alarmed. She tries to move away from him and he gets close to her. And she feels he was about to physically push her onto the train.”
Mayor Eric Adams appeared at the Times Square scene shortly after Martial boarded another train and fled downtown before surrendering and admitting to his crime at Transit District 2 in the Canal St. station, said a law enforcement source.
The suspect, with 10 arrests since 1998, was briefly imprisoned after a 2018 robbery of a cab in Greenwich Village and then placed on parole that expired last year.
Rider Roxanne John, 46, said she knew something terrible happened when she entered the station and spotted the large police presence.
“It could’ve been me, it could’ve been anyone, I feel frightened,” she said. “The only time I feel safe on the train is when I see the cops. ... I feel scared now.”
At the scene, the mayor stressed the need to provide New Yorkers with the right mental health services, then sent his condolences to the victim’s relatives.
“Our hearts go out to the families,” said Adams. “To lose a New Yorker in this fashion will only continue to elevate the fears of individuals not using our subway system.”
Other Manhattan riders remained stunned and terrified as word of the latest subway system attack spread.
“Oh my goodness, it’s so scary,” said Ruby Meng, 30, a regular subway rider. “I’m so afraid of this. I just try to pay attention to my surroundings.”
“Wow, just wow,” said subway rider Brandon Lewis, 41, who takes the train every Saturday to a farmers market. “I’m very disheartened about this. This city is starting to disassemble itself.”
Transport Workers Union Local 100 Vice President Canella Gomez said the shaken subway operator was taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment after the fatality.
“No train operator comes to work expecting to have a passenger thrown in front of his or her train,” she said. “This is the part of the job that no one is ever truly physically, mentally or emotionally prepared for.”
She also called for the new administration at City Hall to come up with a plan to handle the homeless situation in the city’s mass transit system.
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