An Asian woman who was attacked in New York by a man with a rock has died after spending approximately 10 weeks in a coma, her family said on Monday.
GuiYing Ma, 62, was sweeping the sidewalk outside her home in Jackson Heights in Queens on 26 November when a man allegedly struck her head with a rock, police say.
Ma is the fourth Asian American in two months to die in New York as a result of violence against members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.
According to data compiled by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, anti-AAPI hate crime was up 339% nationally last year. Many such attacks have been motivated by resentment over the coronavirus pandemic, which originated in China.
Stop AAPI Hate, a national coalition that tracks and responds to racially motivated hate crimes, said last August more than 9,000 anti-AAPI incidents had been reported across the US since the pandemic began.
In a statement, Ma’s family said: “The deaths of Mrs Yao Pan Ma, Michelle Go and Christina Yuna Lee have made many in the AAPI community feel unsafe.
“The family urges tougher law enforcement to keep everyone in the AAPI community safe and in particular, the elderly members of our community.”
The man who attacked GuiYing Ma, identified as Elisaul Perez, 33, allegedly hit her on the left side of her head after getting into an argument with her, then left her unconscious and bleeding. Police say he hit her again when she fell.
New York police arrested Perez a day later and charged him with assault with intent to disfigure and dismember, assault with intent to seriously injure with a weapon and criminal possession of a weapon. He remains in custody. He has pleaded not guilty.
The attack “permanently damaged the right side of Mrs Ma’s brain”, read the family statement, which was posted on a GoFundMe page set up to pay medical expenses.
“But the love between Mrs Ma and her husband Mr Zhanxin Gao remained. Despite being connected to a ventilator and a feeding tube, Mrs Ma responded to Mr Gao by moving her eyes and tearing up when Mr Gao would speak to her at the hospital.”
Ma woke from the coma in early February and was able to raise her arm in response to her husband, though she was unable to speak. On 22 February, Ma died as a result of “complications of blunt impact injury of head”, her family said.
The death was ruled as a homicide.
“We are reviewing the latest development in this tragedy and will add or upgrade any appropriate charges supported by the evidence,” a spokesman for the Queens district attorney said.
Ma arrived in New York four years ago from Liaoning, China. She is survived by her husband, a son and two grandchildren. According to the GoFundMe statement, funeral services will be arranged after her son is able to travel to New York.
