The homeless man charged with second-degree murder in the death of a man he allegedly pushed in front of an oncoming subway train says he was high on drugs at the time, and trying to fight off voices in his head, USA Today reported.
Police have charged 30-year-old Naeem Davis in the death of 58-year-old South Korean-born Ki Suk Han. Davis was arraigned Dec. 5 and ordered held without bail.
Davis is alleged to have pushed Han onto the train tracks following a verbal altercation. Police took Davis into custody for questioning Dec. 4 after a security video showed a man fitting the suspect's description working with street vendors near Rockefeller Center.
Witnesses revealed to investigators they saw a man talking to himself Monday afternoon before the man approached Han at the Times Square station. Han died shortly after being struck by the oncoming train, said Fox News. He tried to climb off the tracks to safety, but was pinned between the train and the platform's edge, police said.
A grisly image of Han attempting to climb back onto the platform as the train raced towards him has gone viral in the wake of the tragedy, igniting national outrage when the New York Post made the photograph it's entire front page, accompanied by the headline, "Pushed on the subway track, this man is about to die. DOOMED."
In a recent jailhouse interview with the Post, Davis claims Han grabbed his arm, and threatened prior to the incident. He says he was coaxed into shoving Han by the voices inside his head that he couldn't control.
"I heard, 'Naeem he's coming again. He's coming again. You got to do something.' I kept hearing voices like that," Naeem Davis told The Post of his alleged victim, Ki Suk Han, in a jailhouse interview at Rikers Island.
Davis says he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in his 20s but wasn't taking any medication to treat his condition, although, he reveals he didn't attempt to help Han from the tracks because "it happened so fast" and he was "under the influence" at the time. He says he didn't mean to kill Han.
"From the depths of my heart, I didn't mean to kill him. I was under the influence [of marijuana]. It wasn't my intention to kill him. I just wanted him to get away from me," he said.
Davis, who was staying at Bronx shelter on 136th Street, says he was headed to W. 28th Street to pick up some merchandise to peddle around Midtown.
Davis claims an intoxicated Han first approached him near the 49th Street subway booth at 11:30 a.m. and threatened him.
"He grabbed my arm. He said, 'I'm gonna kill you,'" he said. "I yelled at him, "I don't know you. Get away from me."
Han continued to badger him, he said, and approached him near the turnstile and on the platform. Then, things really got heated.
"I took out off my jacket and put down my coffee cup. I saw a red cap (inside his pocket) and I didn't know what he was going to do. I didn't see a bottle. I fought back in self defense. I was against the wall when I pushed him. He fell on his ass and then rolled."
Davis describes himself as a "good hearted person," and says he later turned himself into police because he "had no choice."
Now he wants to take a plea deal to avoid serving a longer sentence. He hopes to get 7 1/2 years to life while pleading guilty to manslaughter.
Davis also wants to apologize to the victim's wife.
"I just want to see her face-to-face and say, 'I'm sorry,'" he said. "It would make things easier for me in here."
Davis said he is a devout Muslim who prays five times a day and goes to mosque daily.
"I've been praying every hour," he said. "God was testing me. I failed that test."
Davis is due back in court on Dec. 11, 2012.
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