America
Woman faces 25 years in jail for pushing Indian to death
New York, March 17
A woman who pushed an
Indian man to his death from a subway train platform two years ago in
what the authorities said was a hate crime faces 22 to 25 years in
prison.
The woman, Erika Menendez, 33, who pleaded guilty on
Friday to first-degree manslaughter will be sentenced on April 29 for
pushing Sunnando Sen, 46, to the tracks in New York on December 27,
2012, CNN reported.
Menendez told authorities she "pushed a
Muslim off the train tracks" because she had hated Hindus and Muslims
ever since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to Queens District
Attorney Richard Brown.
The woman, who was originally charged
with second-degree murder as a hate crime, was allowed on Friday to
plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter, Brown said in a statement.
The judge indicated he would sentence her to 22 to 25 years in prison on April 29.
Conviction
on the original charge would have resulted in a tougher sentence -- 25
years to life imprisonment, CNN cited Meris Campbell, a spokesperson for
the district attorney's office, as saying.
The district
attorney's office accepted the plea because Menendez promised not to
appeal and because of Menendez's "substantial psychiatric history and
serious drug problem", Campbell said.
"We are assured she'll serve a substantial amount of time behind bars."
The incident happened at night at the 40 Street-Lowery Street station in Sunnyside, Queens.
Witnesses
told police a woman paced the platform and talked to herself before
pushing Sen as the 11-car train entered the station. Security video
showed a woman running from the scene.
Menendez was recognised on a street in Brooklyn by a passerby who had seen the video and called 911, police said.
"The
defendant is accused of committing what is every subway commuter's
worst nightmare -- being suddenly and senselessly pushed into the path
of an oncoming train," Brown said on Friday.
"The victim was allegedly shoved from behind and had no chance to defend himself."