NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A man who stomped and kicked a 61-year-old man to death in an anti-Asian hate crime pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court on Thursday, prosecutors announced.
Jarrod Powell will be sentenced to 22 years in state prison under the terms of his plea deal for the 2021 death of Yao Pan Ma. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree as a hate crime.
As he admitted in his plea, the 51-year-old saw Ma on the corner of 125th Street and Third Avenue in East Harlem around 8:15 p.m. on April 23, 2021.
Powell then ran up to Ma from behind and struck him, knocking him to the ground. He then stomped on Ma's head multiple times and repeatedly kicked him in the head, face and neck. Powell then fled the scene as Ma lay unconscious on the ground.
An MTA bus driver, who was stopped at a traffic light and witnessed the attack, flagged down a nearby ambulance. FDNY EMTs found Ma and transported him to NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem, where he was treated for facial fractures and bleeding on the brain.
As a result of the attack, Ma sustained a traumatic brain injury and was placed on life support. He remained hospitalized in a vegetative state until he died from his injuries on Dec. 31, 2021.
Powell evaded authorities for four days until he was identified through video surveillance and arrested on April 27, 2021.
He told law enforcement that he was attacked by two Korean or Japanese men the day before he attacked Ma, prosecutors said. Eventually, he confessed that he did not report the alleged robbery to police and did not provide a description of his alleged assailants beyond their racial identities.
Powell later admitted in his plea that he intentionally targeted Ma because he was Asian.
"This unprovoked attack took the life of Yao Pan Ma and took away a sense of security for so many in the AAPI community in New York," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. "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."
Powell is scheduled to be sentenced on March 9.
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