A Queens woman who allegedly shoved an Indian-origin man to death in front of a subway train last month has been ‘found fit for trial’ after her psychiatric evaluation was released. Erika Menendez allegedly pushed 46-year-old Sunando Sen into the Sunnyside train on December 29 because he is a ‘Muslim’, police said.
Queens Criminal Court Judge Dorothy Chin-Brandt said that Menendez was found fit to stand trial. According to the New York Post, the 31-year-old assailant also has an outstanding reckless driving case from February 27, which is expected to be consolidated with the second-degree murder as a hate crime charges at her Supreme Court arraignment on January 29.
Sources said Menendez was nabbed after a Brooklyn tipster had called in after recognizing her on the street from surveillance video circulated by the NYPD, the report said. Sen, who was from Calcutta and co-owned a Manhattan print shop, was waiting for the train when Menendez came up from behind and shoved him to the tracks, the sources said.
His roommate, Akash Sarker, 20, said Sen was going home from the bank when the attack occurred, the report added.
