By The Diary
Sep 11, 2024, 2:02 PM EDT
NYPD has released a photo of the suspect wanted for chasing another individual with a knife who fatally tripped nurse Martha Rodriguez last month in Harlem.
According to police, the 72-year-old Hispanic woman was arriving home on Lenox Ave. near W. 134th St. on the night of August 3 when she was tripped by a young man who was running away from a group. When she fell, she suffered traumatic head injuries: her skull was fractured in two places, she was bleeding on the brain and had to be connected to a ventilator for three days at Harlem Hospital.
After dying, Rodríguez has saved three lives by donating his organs. Meanwhile, the police case remains open. Last week it was declared a homicide by the Forensic Office (OCME), but no one has been arrested.
Police released surveillance footage yesterday of a knife-wielding man who apparently set off the tragic chain of events by chasing the young man who stumbled into Rodriguez as he tried to escape. If found, he would be charged with criminally negligent homicide, police said. Daily News.
It’s unclear whether the man who tripped Rodriguez as he ran away could also face charges, police said. He is thought to have been involved in an argument with a group when someone pulled out a knife and chased him until he tripped the nurse.
Suspect pic released in knife chase that caused Harlem nurse’s death
Martha Rodriguez was heading home from the movies when a man ran into her and knocked her to the ground outside her Lenox Ave. home.https://t.co/xf2WJhMRF0
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) September 10, 2024
Tom Young (63), a close friend who attended graduate school with Rodriguez in the 1990s and spoke to the detective investigating the case, said the young suspect was looking over his shoulder at those pursuing him and did not appear to have had time to avoid Rodriguez as he turned around.
Young said she can’t get over the randomness of the incident and the fact that the group chasing the young man who shot down Rodriguez didn’t stop to help her. “It’s sad where humanity is right now… But there are also people like Martha, who remind us that the battle on Earth is to try to fight that — to eliminate negativity, to eliminate inhumanity, wherever we can.”
Rodriguez’s humanitarian decision was praised by Leonard Achan, president of LiveOnNY, a nonprofit that coordinates and oversees organ donations. “At the end of the day, the city lost an extraordinary woman and a health care professional who in her last act of altruism gave life and hope to these three strangers. The silver lining behind what happened to her is that she ended up saving the lives of three people.”
Rodriguez worked for more than 28 years as a nurse at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center in Manhattan, caring for breast cancer patients for the past 15 years. She recently told friends she planned to work just one more year before retiring.
“Her zest for life was contagious and her dedication, compassion and expertise left an indelible mark on the lives of countless MSK patients and caregivers,” the center said in a statement. “Martha was not just a colleague, but a friend and mentor to many. She will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing her.”
The recipients of his organs, three men between the ages of 64 and 76, are recovering, Achan said. LiveOnNY will try to connect them with two of Rodriguez’s brothers who live outside of New York state.
The police investigation remains ongoing. No arrests have been made. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) and for Spanish 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). They can also be reached at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or by texting 274637 (CRIMES), followed by TIP577. All communications are strictly confidential.
For more information on organ donation in New York, you can visit the Spanish page of LiveOnNY, “a non-profit organization committed to helping prolong the lives of New Yorkers.” Blood donors are also constantly needed at the New York Blood Center (NYBC), which supplies hospitals in New York and New Jersey,
At the end of March, a 2-year-old Latino baby was taken off life support after being seriously injured in a fire at his home in Upper Manhattan (NYC) and his organs were offered for donation. The same thing happened to a 13-year-old boy who was the victim of a hit-and-run in September 2023. Another similar case occurred in August 2022 when a 9-year-old Latino boy died in a road crash in Long Island (NY).
- Miracle in New York: Dead FDNY firefighter’s heart beats again after organ donation
- Three miracles: Lives saved with organs from healthy teenager who collapsed at school football game in New York