Man Who Allegedly Shoved Woman To Her Death On NYC Train Track Spent Years Between Jails, Streets, Psychiatric Hospitals

Martial Simon, the man who allegedly pushed Michelle Go to her death on the New York City subway tracks Jan. 15, spent decades between jail, psychiatric hospitals and the streets, according to a New York Times report.

Go was a 40-year old woman and a complete stranger to Simon, according to the NYT. A resident of the Upper West Side, she was waiting for a train at Times Square at 9:30 a.m. and was instantly killed when Simon allegedly shoved her onto the tracks.

Simon’s lawyer estimated that he has been hospitalized at least 20 times in New York, the NYT reported. He began showing symptoms of schizophrenia in his 30s.

He was convicted of trying to rob a cab driver in 2017, and charged with possession of a crack pipe in 2019 before the charge was dismissed when Simon was found unfit to stand trial.

Numerous individuals who regularly saw Simon on the streets and at soup kitchens told the NYT that he was usually angry and rambling about problems, including his homelessness and lack of access to psychiatric medications.

A person with access to Simon’s medical records told the NYT that in 2017, Simon told a psychiatrist that “it was just a matter of time before he pushed a woman to the train tracks.”

New York’s surging crime rates prompted electoral changes resulting in the recent election of former police officer Eric Adams as New York City mayor. The former cop had campaigned on cracking down on crime.

Adams pledged to create more supportive housing and social services for mentally unstable homeless people, including “respite beds” for those who are not sick enough for the hospital but too unstable to be released out into the public, the NYT reported.