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Feb. 11 (UPI) -- A New York City prosecutor has indicted a man with murder for brutally beating an Asian immigrant who died months later in hospital from his injuries. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Thursday in a statement that Jarrod Powell, 50, has been charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime.
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According to the court document, Powell is accused of attacking Yao Pan Ma, a 61-year-old Chinese immigrant.
Ma was collecting cans and bottles to be recycled for extra cash in East Harlem when he was attacked from behind at about 8:15 p.m. on April 23.
In the indictment prosecutors said Powell hit Ma to the ground where he repeatedly stomped and kicked his victim in the head before fleeing the scene.
A bus driver who had witnessed the attack while stopped at a traffic light flagged down a ambulance that transported Ma to Harlem Hospital where he was treated for facial fractures and bleeding on the brain.
Ma had suffered a traumatic brain injury, was in a coma and was put on life support, but died from his injuries New Year's Eve.
Powell told police after he was arrested that the day prior to Ma's assault, he had been attacked by two Korean or Japanese men but he did not report the robbery to police or provide other identifying information about those involved.
"The devastating death of Yao Pa Man, a beloved father of two, occurred amidst a surge of anti-Asian attacks targeting our families, friends, neighbors and Yew York values," Bragg said in a statement. "As alleged, Jarrod Powell selectively attacked Mr. Ma for no other reason than his race."
The Manhattan District Attorney's office said there are 33 open hate crime cases related to anti-Asian hate crimes and that it has prosecuted nearly four times as many such crimes in 2021 than in the previous year.
According to Stop AAPI Hate, from March 19, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021, there were a total of 10,370 hate incidents against Asian American and Pacific Islanders.
