A Brooklyn man who allegedly beat a 62-year-old woman over the head with a rock in North Corona last year has been indicted for murder (Photo: NYPD and GoFundMe)
May 23, 2022 By Michael Dorgan
A Brooklyn man who allegedly beat a 62-year-old Asian American woman over the head with a rock in North Corona last year – causing her to die from her injuries three months later — has been indicted for murder.
Elisaul Perez, 33, was indicted Monday by a Queens County grand jury on charges of murder in the second degree and manslaughter in the first degree for the vicious attack of GuiYing Ma on Nov. 26, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
Perez allegedly beat Ma in the face and head with a large rock in front of her home near the corner of 38th Avenue and 97th Street. Ma was sweeping outside her house at around 8 a.m. when Perez was reportedly sleeping on the sidewalk, and he allegedly attacked her.
According to court documents, Perez allegedly picked up a chunk of concrete and struck Ma in the head. He then struck her a second time after she fell to the ground.
Ma was placed in a medically induced coma at Elmhurst Hospital after the attack but succumbed to her injuries on Feb. 22.
Perez was initially charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon but the charges were upgraded following Ma’s death, prosecutors said. He faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the charges.
“The entire community has been in mourning over the brutal attack that took the life of Guiying Ma, who immigrated to this country in hopes of being able to provide for her family,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. Ma came to New York from Liaoning, China, four years ago.
Shortly before her death, Ma was beginning to communicate with her husband Zhanxin Gao through body movements and reactions, according to a GoFundMe page that the family launched to raise money to help cover her medical costs. The fund has raised nearly $235,000.
In the immediate aftermath of the incident, many local leaders denounced the brutal attack as being racially motivated. For instance, Congress Member Grace Meng, Assembly Member Ed Braunstein, State Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky, former Councilmember Peter Koo and then Council Member-elect Sandra Ung spoke at a rally in Flushing on Dec.1 to draw attention to Asian hate. The rally was prompted by this case.
Perez, however, was not charged with a hate crime, following an investigation by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force,
