In 2017, he was convicted of trying to rob a taxi driver and was out on parole a drug possession charge against Simon in 2019 was also dropped because he was found unfit for trial, Schumann said.Īlso in 2017, Simon reportedly told a psychiatrist at a state-run hospital that it was only a matter of time before he pushed someone on the tracks, he was released, according to The New York Times. Simon had been the manager of a Manhattan parking garage until his 30s, when he was first diagnosed with schizophrenia and became unemployed and homeless, Schumann said. Earlier this month, state lawmakers expanded a law that lets judges mandate mental health treatment or confinement to a psychiatric institution if, among other criteria, they are found to be a danger to others. The attack also drew fresh scrutiny to the shortcomings in mental health services in New York, particularly for poor and homeless people. The lawyer believes Simon will be transferred to Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center on Wards Island, near Manhattan, or to Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center, which is 65 miles away from the city. He has been released into the custody of the Department of Mental Health and Hygiene until he can be deemed fit for trialĪt a brief hearing on Tuesday, prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney's, told the court they agreed to let Simon be confined to a psychiatric institution until he was fit for trial, if ever that day came, Schumann said.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |