An Asian man who was brutally assaulted in a hate crime attack in April has died of his injuries, the NYPD announced Saturday.
Yao Pan Ma, 61, was repeatedly kicked in the head on April 23 while collecting cans in East Harlem, police said.
Ex-con-con Jarrod Powell was captured on video where he assaulted Ma, and got caught four days after the violent attack that left the victim in a coma.
Ma died Dec. 31, the NYPD said.
Powell, 49, was initially charged with attempted murder and two counts of assault as a hate crime. He has pleaded not guilty.
The case has now been designated as a homicide, although upgraded charges have not yet been filed, the NYPD said.
Powell, who has at least 15 previous busts dating back to 1988, claimed the victim attacked him first – and that the video of the nauseating assault was “a whole lot of bull-t.”
He was held for $ 100,000 in cash bail at his trial. Ma, a Chinese immigrant without a job, collected cans on Third Avenue and 125th Street to help make ends meet when he was trampled.
Ma was taken to Harlem Hospital after being beaten. His wife, Baozhen Chen, had feared that her husband would not recover from her medically induced coma – and demanded justice for the father of her two children.
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