NYC subway shove victim recalls pulse-pounding moment that changed her life as attacker learns fate: ‘Like a horror movie’
A mentally ill woman who randomly shoved a helpless commuter into a moving subway car in Times Square was sentenced to more than a decade behind bars Thursday — as the victim recalled thinking she was in a “scene from a horror movie” at the time.
Anthonia Egegbara, 32, was slapped with 12 years in prison by Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Brendan Lantry for the 2021 assault that left 42-year-old New Jersey woman Lenny Javier with several injuries, including a broken arm that required surgery.
“I found myself in some part of a nightmare, like a scene from a horror movie that I’ve watched before,” Javier said in a victim impact statement read in court by Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Andrea Kimmel.
“My life was shattered. The nightmare stayed and persisted ever since,” Javier, who was not at the sentencing hearing, wrote.
Egegbara, who suffers from schizophrenia, had been out without bail for three months at the time of the Oct. 4, 2021 attack for a separate assault on another straphanger.
The victim, Jasmine Robles, was attacked by Egegbara on an A train, suffering a broken nose, bloody eye, knocked out tooth and severe PTSD.
Egegbara was charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, in that case, which was dismissed after she flunked her mental evaluation exam, her defense attorney said.
She had faced up to 25 years in prison on an attempted murder charge for the attack on Javier — before she pleaded guilty August 8 to a lesser rap of first-degree assault as part of a deal with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Egegbara was sitting on a bench inside the 42nd Street subway station when she stood up, walked over to Javier and suddenly pushed her into an oncoming northbound 3 train, prosecutors said.
Javier sustained several injures, including a broken arm, bleeding and bruising to the face. Egegbara fled from the station but was arrested a day later.
“The fear crawled into my life like an insect. The question ‘Why me?’ stayed in my mind, disrupting my faith, my attitude, my mood and my calm,” the victim said in her statement, adding that she still feels stiffness in her arm and suffers anxiety from the attack.
Egegbara’s attorney, Adam Mehrfar, said his client’s mental condition at the time of the attack played “some part” in her actions, but that she hopes the victim is healing and feels better.
“I truly apologize for my actions,” Egegbara said in a brief statement to the judge.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said that he hopes Egebara’s sentencing gives some relief to the victims.
“Anthonia Egegbara will serve a significant state prison term for viciously shoving a woman, who was on her morning commute, into a train as it entered the station,” Bragg said in a statement. “The assault left the victim with stiffness and pain from her injuries to this day. I hope the resolution in this case can offer the victim a sense of justice.”
