The night of incident
March 13, 2015 By Christian Murray
The woman who pushed a man to his death at the 40th Street subway station in December 2012 has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and is expected to be sentenced to between 22 and 25 years in prison, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office.
Erika Menendez, a 33-year-old Rego Park woman, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for shoving Sunnando Sen, 46, into a Queens-bound No. 7 train at about 8 pm, Dec. 27, 2012.
Menendez, who was talking to herself on the platform prior to the incident, approached Sen from behind and pushed him onto the tracks as a train was pulling into the station.
Sen was struck by the train and died of multiple blunt force trauma.
Linda Santini-Tripodis, the owner of Merit Group & Associates who was by the station at the time, said: “I heard the train screech as it was stopping and then heard this loud scream. I’m never going to forget that scream for as long as I live.”
Menendez was caught by the police in Brooklyn two days after the incident.
“The defendant has admitted committing what is every subway commuter’s worst nightmare – being suddenly and senselessly pushed into the path of an oncoming train,” said Queens District Attorney Richard A Brown. “The victim was shoved from behind and had no chance to defend himself. The defendant now faces at least 22 years in prison when sentenced next month.”
