By Marlyn Montilla
Jun 23, 2024, 11:28 AM EDT
A Washington Heights Hispanic man accused of killing his neighbor, a musician, in a subway station left him “to die on the stairs,” according to prosecutors in Manhattan criminal court on Saturday before he was ordered to be imprisoned without right on bail.
Identified as Diego Figueroa Hepner, 24, remained silent during his arraignment for second-degree murder in the bloody stabbing of musician Johnny Medina at the 175th Street station.
“Despite the defendant’s lack of criminal history, in this case, the defendant commits a brazen crime inside the subway without regard for the victim’s life, leaving her to die on the stairs,” an assistant district attorney explained to the presiding judge.
“Given the strength of the case and the fact that the defendant faces life in prison, this gives him a strong incentive to flee the jurisdiction. Preventive detention is necessary and appropriate.”
Figueroa’s lawyer, Peter Laumann, of the Legal Aid Society, said his client was also injured in the brutal fight.
“My client was arrested at the hospital with a large stab and cutting wound to his legs, arms and head,” Laumann told the court.
Figueroa, dressed in green shorts, a white T-shirt and Nike sneakers, had no visible injuries at his arraignment, the New York Post reported.
After considering the subject’s lack of criminal record, the judge ordered that he remain arrested without the right to bail.
Neither the prosecution nor defense attorneys suggested a possible motive for the killing, but neighbors and sources said the two, who lived across the street from each other, had clashed before.
“I guess this guy got pretty obsessed with Johnny and was posting pretty negative things.” [en las redes sociales] about Johnny… So Johnny filed a police report to complain about this guy maybe a month ago,” said Medina’s paternal cousin, Máximo Reves, 42.
Figueroa was allegedly wearing a ski mask when he ambushed Medina in the subway station at the station, stabbing him several times in the neck and body.
The musician, who was about to board an A train heading north to see a movie with his girlfriend, succumbed to his injuries at a Harlem hospital.
Laumann and Figueroa’s father declined to comment.
The alleged murderer must return to court on June 27.
Keep reading:
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- Hispanic died beaten in the New York Subway
- Subject who set Manhattan subway passenger on fire committed a similar crime in February, according to NYPD