Just before noon on a Sunday in early March, a 30-year-old man was standing on a subway platform on the Upper East Side when he was pushed from behind.
He landed on the tracks, pulled out his phone and began recording his attacker, according to prosecutors. He watched as the man moved down the platform and pushed an 83-year-old man onto the tracks.
The younger man helped lift the second victim, Richard Williams, back on to the platform, the police said. Mr. Williams was taken to the NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital where he had a brain bleed and never regained consciousness. He died nine days later.
Prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office said it was Bairon Hernandez who pushed Mr. Williams onto the track. On Monday, Mr. Hernandez, 34, pleaded not guilty in state court in Manhattan to multiple charges, including second-degree murder. Mr. Hernandez could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
Mr. Williams was walking with a cane when Mr. Hernandez shoved him from behind with both hands, sending him flying onto the track, where he landed on his face, said Julie Nobel, an assistant district attorney.
Ms. Nobel called the attacks “completely unprovoked.”
Prosecutors said Mr. Hernandez was recorded that day on the platform and fleeing the station. According to the criminal complaint, Mr. Hernandez was identified as wearing tan pants, a gray jacket and a red hooded sweatshirt. Ms. Nobel said multiple witnesses saw the attack.
On Monday, Ms. Nobel said Mr. Hernandez, who entered the country illegally as an immigrant, was wanted for drug-related charges in New Jersey and should not be released.
In a news conference after the arraignment, Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, said the 30-year-old man, whose name was not released, was left with an injury to his shoulder. Mr. Bragg called the incident a “heinous attack” that killed a Vietnam Veteran.
Mr. Williams had lived on Roosevelt Island in Manhattan for about the last 30 years and adored the city, according to his family. He was with his wife for more than 55 years, and he especially loved the transit system, riding the subways and enjoying the bustle of the city, his family said.
As a young man, he served in the Air Force, where he worked as a mechanic on fighter jet planes. When he retired from the military, he worked for Pan American World Airways, also as a mechanic.
He had three daughters and two granddaughters, his family said. Just months before his death, doctors had told him he was clear of prostate cancer, they said.
Outside of the courthouse on Monday, a granddaughter of Mr. Williams’s said he was a “devoted husband, a loving father and grandfather, and a kind, generous man whose life was centered around those he loved.”
The woman, who identified herself as Jackie Bilog, read a statement from her family, who she said “respect the legal process.”
“At the same time, no legal proceeding can restore the life that was taken or the future that has been lost to our family,” she said. “It is our sincere hope that awareness and meaningful action can help us prevent other families from experiencing a similar loss.”
Georgia Gee contributed research.
Hurubie Meko is a Times reporter covering criminal justice in New York, with a focus on the Manhattan district attorney’s office and state courts.
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