A New York City man accused in the fatal beating of a Chinese immigrant has pleaded guilty and may spend the next 22 years in prison.
Fifty-one-year-old Jarrod Powell pleaded guilty to a hate crime manslaughter charge in the death of 61-year-old Yao Pan Ma that happened in 2021, Fox News reported Thursday.
“Jarrod Powell attacked Mr. Ma because of his race and is now being held accountable. My thoughts are with Mr. Ma’s family and friends as they continue to mourn this loss,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a press release.
On April 23, 2021 in East Harlem, the victim was collecting cans when he was shoved to the ground and kicked in the head, the Fox report continued.
Surveillance footage shows what happened and police escorting Powell, who was homeless and had previously been in prison, out of the 25th police precinct station following the incident:
Powell has been accused of stomping on the man’s head multiple times, and his injuries later put him into a coma.
Per the district attorney’s news release:
An MTA bus driver, who was stopped at a traffic light and witnessed the attack, flagged down a nearby ambulance. FDNY EMTs found Mr. Ma and transported him to Harlem Hospital, where he was treated for facial fractures and bleeding on the brain. As a result of the attack, Mr. Ma sustained a traumatic brain injury and was placed on life support. POWELL evaded authorities for four days until he was identified through video surveillance and apprehended by the NYPD on April 27, 2021.
Powell later claimed he had been attacked by two Asian men the day before the attack on Ma. However, he did not report the alleged robbery.
“Mr. Ma remained hospitalized in a vegetative state until he died from his injuries on December 31, 2021. As admitted in his plea to this hate crime, POWELL targeted Mr. Ma because he was Asian,” the district attorney’s press release noted.
In January 2022, community members gathered to remember Ma at a vigil:
Powell’s sentencing is scheduled for March 9 and “Bragg’s office currently has 44 open cases related to anti-Asian hate crimes,” the Fox report said.
In November 2021, billionaire Democrat mega-donor George Soros scored another local district attorney’s office when Bragg (D) won, according to Breitbart News.
“In June, Bragg was linked to Soros after it was revealed that the far-left Color of Change PAC which endorsed his candidacy was receiving millions from the billionaire investor,” the outlet said.