Sketch: NYPD
Dec. 29, 2012 Staff Report
A 31-year-old woman has been arrested and is likely to be charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime, according to a source within the Queens district attorney’s office.
The woman, Erika Menendez of the Bronx, is in custody after making statements that implicated herself in the death of Sunando Sen.
Menendez was recognized this morning on a street in Brooklyn by a passer-by who called 911, according to police. The caller said she resembled the woman in the video fleeing the scene Thursday night. The police responded and confirmed her identity and brought her to the 112th Pct detective squad where she confessed to the homicide.
Menendez was then identified this afternoon in a lineup as the woman who pushed Sen into the path of an oncoming No. 7 train at the 40th Street subway stop, the police said.
The New York Times reported that a law enforcement official said that Menendez had “told the cops it was an act against Muslims,” and cited the Sept. 11 attacks. The victim was born in India and, according to a roommate, was raised Hindu.
