NY - Emine Yilmaz Ozsoy, 35, award winning artist, attacked at random on subway, instantly paralyzed, Queens, 21 May 2023 *arrest*

Joined
Jul 7, 2018
Messages
36,961
Reaction score
243,411
  • #1
Prosecutors revealed chilling details Wednesday as they outlined their attempted murder case against a Queens man whose alleged random shove of a woman into the side of a Manhattan subway last weekend left her paralyzed.

Kamal Semrade, a 39-year-old with no prior record known to the Manhattan district attorney's office, was remanded after his arraignment on the criminal complaint. It provides a jarring account of the injuries that the woman, identified by her family as 35-year-old Emine Yilmaz Ozsoy, endured on her way to work.

Authorities have said it appears Ozsoy was attacked at random, blindsided from behind by a man who shoved her head into the side of a train at Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street around 6 a.m. Sunday. It wasn't clear if he made any sort of comment before the shove, but the NYPD says the attack was entirely unprovoked -- and the woman was critically hurt.

According to court papers, Semrade and Ozsoy boarded the same train in Queens that morning. Both of them got off the train at 63rd and Lex in Manhattan. He was walking behind her on the platform, the complaint says, and as it began to move, he "grabbed her head with both his hands and shoved her with all his force into the moving subway car."
subway shove victim

Prosecutors say Ozsoy's face and head hit the train, then her body rolled alongside it and crashed back to the platform. She was "instantly paralyzed," according to court papers, and currently can't move anything below her neck. Ozsoy's injuries include a cervical spine fracture, broken fingers, a scalp laceration and damage to four major blood vessels.

Authorities say there's still a risk the 35-year-old artist could suffer a stroke or die. She remained hospitalized in critical condition Wednesday. Prosecutors say they have eyewitness accounts and surveillance video to support their case.
 
  • #2
For days after Emine Yilmaz Ozsoy was shoved against a speeding subway train on her way to work, she lay in intensive care at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. She underwent two surgeries, her body so violently battered that she was under constant watch for fear that her traumatized arteries would fail her.
On Thursday, Ms. Ozsoy remained partially paralyzed, but was gathering strength, testing her remaining mobility and cognizant of everything that had happened to her since early Sunday morning when a man thrust her head into the train as it pulled out of the Lexington Avenue/63rd Street station.

“At this moment, her journey is a very scary journey,” her husband, Ferdi Ozsoy, said in an interview.
Emine Yilmaz Ozsoy in profile.

Since moving from Istanbul in 2017, Ms. Ozsoy, 35, has embodied New York’s “hustler” spirit, said a cousin, Deniz Gunduz. She had left a career as a page designer at one of Turkey’s most influential newspapers to pursue a more creative path. In New York, she embarked on a career as an artist and illustrator,simultaneously learning English and picking up a job as a barista. She is focused, motivated and unyieldingly independent, her relatives said.
 
  • #3
This happened at a subway station I am at almost daily. I would urge people who are confused about the intersection of mental health issues and subway violence to read about this case.
 
  • #4
The husband of the Turkish woman, who suffered severe injuries when a man from Queens shoved her head into a subway car in New York City, has expressed that the assault is not just directed at his wife but is also an attack on all New Yorkers.
Subway assault on Turkish woman portrayed by husband as violence directed at all New Yorkers

"This is an act of violence not only against my wife but against all New Yorkers," Ferdi Ozsoy told Anadolu while awaiting positive updates on his wife Emine Yilmaz Ozsoy. Emine, 35, is an award-winning artist and illustrator who remains hospitalized in critical condition following the brutal subway attack.

The alleged perpetrator, 39-year-old Kamal Semrade, who is reportedly homeless, was arrested on Tuesday and has been charged with attempted murder in the assault against Ozsoy.

"Emine broke her neck. She's currently not able to move at all," Ozsoy said, "I came to New York and in the late hours the surgery lasted for about 11 hours long.

"She fought through the surgery like a warrior. She is a woman who has broken barriers. She's a woman who has always gone after her dreams. She's an artist. She's a friend. She's the most sweetest person you could ever meet in your life," he told Anadolu while standing outside the hospital where Emine is currently receiving treatment.

He expressed gratitude towards the New Yorkers who assisted Emine at the scene of the incident, the eyewitnesses, the detectives involved in the investigation, and the New York Police Department for their swift apprehension of the attacker.

"I was hoping for the mayor's office to call us to check up on us," he noted.
 
  • #5
New York is failing it's law abiding citizens imo. I'm praying for a miracle for this woman.
 
  • #6
I haven't posted on that other thread, nor do I live in NY. My sympathy to the family and friends of this lovely woman.

Toronto is also experiencing increased horrific transit violence. I looked for details about accused killers, found one had been in and out of jail a lot, and was far from their hometown, the other was traced to a nice local home/family.

IMO, just like other crimes we follow on this board, there are many motives and circumstances that lead people to commit horrific crimes, and although there are some similarities between cases, there are also big differences. Eg Chris Watts, Alex Murdaugh and Lori Vallow each murdered their spouse and child/children, but they otherwise have nothing in common and the motives are different in each case.

Instead, I wonder: why transit and not, for eg, food courts, public plazas, hotel lobbies?

Perhaps because there's no presence of police or security personnel? Subways are inherently dangerous, but not all crimes involve an actual train. Perhaps it's that people are crowded close together but are ignoring the people around them, making them appear more vulnerable to an attacker? Perhaps, when transit violence is so much in the news, is there some kind of copycat element going on, like school shooting?

Just amateur opinion and speculation.
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
109
Guests online
1,856
Total visitors
1,965

Forum statistics

Threads
632,351
Messages
18,625,146
Members
243,101
Latest member
ins71
Back
Top