Attack on Yao Pan Ma, 61, drew attention amid rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and is now being treated as homicide
Summary
- A Chinese American man who was brutally attacked last April while collecting cans in East Harlem has died of his injuries and the case is now deemed a homicide, police in New York said on Saturday.
- Yao Pan Ma, 61, died on 31 December, police said.
- Jarrod Powell, 49, of New York City, was previously charged with attempted murder, felony assault and hate crime charges.
- Powell is alleged to have attacked Ma from behind, knocking him to the ground and repeatedly kicking his head before fleeing, prosecutors say.
- News organizations reported Ma was a former restaurant worker who lost his job because of the pandemic and was collecting cans to make ends meet.