A Rego Park woman last week was sentenced to 24 years in prison for shoving a man to his death as a 7 train entered a Sunnyside station in 2012, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Erika Menendez, 33, who has been held without bail since her arraignment in December 2012, pleaded guilty in March to first-degree manslaughter.
According to the criminal complaint, Menendez was seen talking to herself and pacing back and forth on the subway platform around 8 p.m. on Dec. 27, 2012, at the same time that Sunnando Sen, 46, was on the platform waiting for the train’s arrival. As the train entered the station, Menendez approached Sen from behind and shoved him onto the tracks. Sen was struck by the train and died of multiple blunt-force traumas.
Brown said that Menendez “committed what is every subway commuter’s worst nightmare—being suddenly and senselessly pushed into the path of an oncoming train. The victim was shoved from behind and had no chance to defend himself. His family and friends must now cope with the difficult task of adjusting to a life empty of the presence of their loved one. The defendant’s actions clearly show that she is a threat to society and deserving of today’s sentence.”
