Carlton McPherson, career criminal with long history of mental illness pushes Jason Volz, Bronx man to his death at NYC Subway station in East Harlem in calculated push according to witness.
A career criminal with a long history of mental illness who pushed a commuter to his death in front of an oncoming NYC Subway train is alleged to have ‘timed it perfectly,’ along ‘with all his might’ according to a witness who observed Tuesday’s random fatal attack.
Carlton McPherson, 24, got off an uptown train at the East 125th Street and Lexington Avenue station Monday and stood on the platform for just a matter of minutes before allegedly lunging at his victim, pushing the individual into the path of an oncoming subway train, according to the witness.
‘He like timed it perfectly,’ witness Andriel Recio, 28, told the nypost. Adding ‘He was walking… scoping out the area, looking back and forth everywhere,’
24-year-old career criminal Carlton McPherson pushed 53-year-old Jason Volz onto the Harlem subway tracks in NYC on Monday.
An oncoming train couldn’t stop and Volz was kįlled.
These kinds of random acts of violence are becoming all too common in NYC under @NYCMayor Eric Adams. pic.twitter.com/MLz8daMMbi
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) March 26, 2024
‘I’ll be back home later tonight…’
‘And as the train was approaching, he just snuck behind the guy and just cocked back and pushed him with, like, all his might.
‘The guy just like, flew onto the tracks,’ Recio said of the victim according to the nypost.
The train was unable to stop in time and fatally struck Bronx resident Jason Volz, 53, into the path of the northbound No. 4 train just before 7 p.m.
Tragically, Volz who lived a solitary inconspicuous existence, had told a fellow Bronx neighbor he would be back later that night after greeting him in the lobby. He never made it.
McPherson lived in the Bronx with his grandmother who had been with her grandson during a recent mental health crisis.
McPherson — who has a history of mental illness and past arrests — was awaiting arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on a murder charge Tuesday.
NEW: Man accused of fatally shoving a NYC subway rider has a long record
Carlton McPherson, 24, from the Bronx, had a warrant for his arrest in a Brooklyn assault case when he allegedly pushed a 54-year-old man onto subway tracks at East 125th Street and Lexington Avenue station… pic.twitter.com/M5Ta0UdExf
— Unlimited L’s (@unlimited_ls) March 26, 2024
Random premeditated attack
Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that there were six NYPD cops at the station at the time — but none of them were able to do anything to stop the sudden and unpredictable attack.
The deranged shover waited just a few minutes on the platform until the next train arrived, according to Recio and the source familiar with the case.
‘He was visibly upset,’ the witness said. ‘He was holding his pants up. As if like, you know, how guys are about to fight. Like just holding his stance up and just scoping out the area just looking side to side.’
He then knocked Volz onto the tracks with no apparent warning, and the victim was hit by the oncoming train in a matter of seconds.
‘He cocked back and pushed him with all his might,’ Recio recalled.
‘It was literally just at random,’ he added.
‘Seeing that firsthand was like, legitimately crazy.’
Family had tried getting help for suspect but to no avail
McPherson’s brother said that his family had been trying to get help for the troubled sibling but was turned away at every turn despite his spiraling behavior.
McPherson, was booted from a NYC hospital just two weeks before Monday’s shoving episode.
‘The city failed Carlton,’ his older brother, Daquan McPherson, told the nypost in an interview. ‘The city is failing all mentally ill people. There’s too much red tape. He just got out of the hospital two weeks ago. We begged them to keep him but they said he wasn’t a threat to himself or others so they couldn’t keep him and they let him go.
‘They released him,’ he said. ‘In New York City the mentally ill have two options — either they go to jail or do something that lands them in the newspaper.’
Repeated calls to a suicide and crisis hotline over the last six months also failed to get Carlton McPherson off the streets, his brother said.
Records show McPherson having eight prior arrests — four of them later sealed.
When Carlton was arrested in the past he would be held for a 72-hour psychiatric evaluation, but then released back into the streets, Daquan said.
The NYPD had responded to past incidents where McPherson was acting erratically with authorities saying the man having a history of mental illness.
He was released without bail after he was arraigned on an October 31 arrest for assault, menacing, harassment and other charges in Brooklyn.
He failed to show up for court twice and a judge issued a warrant for his arrest. He was picked up and brought to court on Jan. 11, where bail was set for $2,000 — which he posted. His next court date for that case had been set for July.
