A Bay Area native who died after being pushed onto New York City subway tracks in front of an oncoming train was remembered at two vigils on opposite sides of the country Tuesday.
One of the vigils for 40-year-old Michelle Go, who was born in Berkeley and grew up in Fremont, was held in San Francisco. The other to take place in New York City.
The San Francisco vigil was held at 6 p.m. in Portsmouth Square, known as the heart of Chinatown, at Clay and Kearny streets.
The vigil was organized in cooperation with the New York nonprofit Asians Fighting Injustice, a group dedicated to fighting against the rise in hate crimes in New York City. In an Instagram post, interested volunteers are asked to message @_dearcommunity to offer their support.
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"We are mourning, and we will heal with our East Coast brothers and sisters," the post reads.
The New York City vigil was scheduled to get underway at 3 p.m. PST.
Go's family released the following statement following her death: "We are in a state of shock and grieving the loss of our daughter, sister, and friend. We hope Michelle will be remembered for how she lived and not just how she died. She was a beautiful, brilliant, kind, and intelligent woman who loved her family and friends, loved to travel the world and to help others. Her life was taken too soon in a senseless act of violence, and we pray that she gets the justice she deserves. Thank you for your condolences. We ask the media to please respect our privacy during this very difficult time."
Go was pushed to her death at the Times Square station Saturday, police said, a little more than a week after the mayor and governor announced plans to boost subway policing and outreach to homeless people in New York City’s streets and trains.
The man believed responsible fled the scene but turned himself in to transit police a short time later, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said at a news conference.
Go was waiting for a southbound R train around 9:40 a.m. when she was apparently shoved, according to police.
"This incident was unprovoked, and the victim does not appear to have had any interaction with the subject," Sewell said.
Police on Saturday night identified the suspect as 61-year-old Simon Martial. Martial, who police said is homeless, was charged with second-degree murder. It was not immediately known whether he had an attorney who could comment.
