Upon pleading guilty to manslaughter and a hate crime in the 2021 murder of a Chinese immigrant, a New York City man was sentenced to 22 years in jail.
Jarrod Powell assaulted Yao Pan Ma, 61, in the East Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, as part of the recent spate of attacks on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.
Ma was in a coma for eight months before dying death. In April of 2021, police surveillance film showed the moment a lone attacker knocked down Ma and viciously kicked him in the head.
Powell, 51, was given 22 years in jail after pleading guilty to first-degree homicide as a hate crime in January, according to a statement issued by the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Mr. Ma’s murder was the result of a “terrible racist attack,” according to Bragg. No one should be terrified of being in danger because of their identity.
According to media agencies in the United States, Ma relocated to the nation with his wife and worked as a pastry chef two years before to the event.
According to Bragg’s office, Powell pled guilty to discriminating against Ma due to his Asian heritage. There are now 39 investigations involving acts of anti-Asian discrimination, according to the government.
A month before to Ma’s attack, eight individuals, including six Asian women, were shot and killed at three Atlanta spas.
According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2022, more than one-third of Asian Americans altered their daily routines because of fear of attacks and threats. In 2021, 305 Asians were victims of hate crimes in the United States, according to FBI data.
