A 61-year-old Asian American man repeatedly stomped in the head in April has died of his injuries, reports NBC4.
Yao Pan Ma spent eight months in a coma.
Police arrested Jarrod Powell, 49, days after the attack. The charges against him will now be upgraded to murder, in addition to the hate crime charge he already faces.
Surveillance video tweeted out by police shows a man kicking Ma in the head, then repeating the action several times.
According to the New York Post, Powell accused Ma of attacking him first. He called the surveillance video “a whole lot of bulls–t.”
Authorities described Ma as an unemployed Chinese immigrant collecting cans as a way to raise money before being attacked.
“This should not happen to my husband or anyone else,” said his wife Baozhen Chen to CBS NY. “This is America. I wish the criminal can be arrested and put in jail for good.”
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Who will seek justice for Yao Pan Ma? Where is the equality of justice in America when it comes to Asian (Chinese)? In the streets, news or criminal justice system?