Police arrest Naeem Davis on second-degree murder charges

Dec 6, 2012 10:49 GMT  ·  By
Naeem Davis, center, was charged with second degree murder for pushing a man in front of a train
   Naeem Davis, center, was charged with second degree murder for pushing a man in front of a train

Naeem Davis, the homeless man suspected of shoving someone in front of the Q train in a Times Square Subway Station, will be facing second-degree murder charges. He was arrested on Wednesday, December 5, reports say.

30-year-old Davis was arraigned yesterday for the murder of Korean native 58-year-old Ki-Suck Han, by pushing him from the platform onto the tracks, which eventually lead to his death. Many witnessed as Davis and Han argued loudly, before the incident.

As the police pulled CCTV footage from the station, they showed the images to several onlookers who identified Naeem Davis, as a man working with street vendors in the area.

Naeem Davis was apprehended on the corner of 50th Street and Seventh Avenue, and questioned at the Midtown North Precinct station house. A spokesperson for the department mentioned that he incriminated himself.

He has a criminal record that includes theft and peddling in New York and Pennsylvania. Davis was also identified in a lineup by witnesses from the station.

One of the people at the scene stated that he smelled alcohol in Davis's breath, New York Times reports. As a child, the homeless man had suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome, a condition brought on by consumption of alcohol during the pregnancy.

It can leave an infant scarred, with permanent mental and physical defects. He was forced to live with a foster family in New Brighton, Pennsylvania.

As we wrote yesterday, Han survived the impact but was not able to get off the tracks in time, and was run over by the incoming train. New York Post printed a chilling photo of Han in the last moments before the train hit him, sparking outrage with their front page.

The images were captured by a freelance photographer on a separate assignment. Publishing the shocking snapshot brought on debates over whether or not the photographer did enough to help the victim of the attack.

“The thought of someone helping him up in a matter of seconds would have been great,” Mr. Han’s daughter said in a press conference.