Homeless man who fatally shoved Michelle Go in NYC subway explodes in court as DA claims he’s now mentally fit for trial
The homeless man accused of fatally shoving Michelle Go into an oncoming subway train in Times Square exploded in Manhattan court Tuesday — after prosecutors argued he has been deemed mentally fit to stand trial.
Martial Simon — who was locked up at a maximum-security state psychiatric facility on Wards Island two years ago — has since passed a mental health evaluation and can now face murder charges in the January 2022 slaying that shook the city, prosecutors said in Manhattan Supreme Court.
But Simon, 63, couldn’t keep his cool during the brief hearing, trying to address Judge Althea Drysdale before snapping “Who are you f–king motherf–ks? God I hate you” as court officers hauled him away.
His defense attorney said the troubled vagrant is still experiencing delusions, including believing aliens will come to “save” him because he is a “supernatural” being.
“He remains in strong belief that the space ships will come and save him as he is supernatural,” lawyer Mitchell Schuman told the judge, citing a staff report from the Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center on March 27 — just a week before prosecutors wrapped up their mental evaluation.
Schuman argued Simon wasn’t competent to stand trial — and requested that the defense be allowed to have its own experts conduct an evaluation.
“I think they’re basing that on incomplete information, and when the information is complete, I think they will agree he’s not fit to proceed,” he said.
Simon was turned over to the state Department of Mental Health and Hygiene on April 20, 2022 after prosecutors confirmed that he was unfit to stand trial for the random slaying.
He was sent back to Rikers Island on April 17 after Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Constantine Coritsidis said he’d passed the mental health exam.
Schuman charged that the findings in the Kirby staff report were “incredibly unethical,” and that Rikers records from the past week showed Martial remains “grossly delusional” and “specifically paranoid.”
“He was found with impaired understanding of his legal case,” Schuman told the judge, who ordered for the defense to have Simon examined before he appears for his next court date on May 27.
Simon’s family has said that he suffered from schizophrenia and had been in and out of mental health facilities for over 20 years prior to the fatal Jan. 9, 2022 subway push.
Authorities said Simon brazenly admitted to randomly pushing Go — a 40-year-old senior manager at top consulting firm Deloitte — off the platform of the Times Square station as she waited to board a southbound R train.
He is charged with second-degree murder.
Go — an MBA graduate of NYU’s prestigious Stern School of Business — volunteered as an advocate for the homeless before her senseless death.
