SUBWAY ‘PUNCH’ DEVIL
‘Killer’ teen in court: ‘Who died?’
The “devil made me do it” teen who cops say fatally sucker-punched a 65-yearold straphanger, knocking him off a Brooklyn subway platform to the tracks, coldly asked on Thursday, “Who died?”
“Nothing happened,” barked Edward Cordero, 18, as he was escorted in handcuffs from the 84th Precinct station house.
“I don’t have to say nothing to you,” he told a Post reporter. “Mind your f--king business.”
The agitated Cordero — who was wearing a red hoodie and jeans — then reversed gears to offer some kind words to reporters.
“Have nice day out there!” he said before getting into a squad car with detectives.
Cordero, who has been described as bipolar, was charged with manslaughter and assault for the death of Jacinto Suarez, a grandfather from Staten Island.
Suarez was waiting for a southbound R train Wednesday afternoon at the Jay Street-MetroTech Station in Downtown Brooklyn when Cordero — who also goes by Andrew Cortez — socked him from behind, police said.
The teen was talking to himself and flailing his arms before he allegedly threw the punch, cops said.
Suarez fell to the tracks, suffering a broken spine, broken ribs and skull injuries, sources said. He was pronounced dead at Brooklyn Hospital.
Hours earlier, Cordero was overheard at PS 371, a school for students with learning disabilities, “talking about the devil,” sources said.
After the incident, he allegedly told cops, “The devil made me do it.”
His sister, who refused to give her name, said Cordero “wasn’t taking his medication. He needs to take his medication,” she explained, sobbing.
Speaking outside the family’s Bedford-Stuyvesant home, she was joined by their mother — who also asked to not be named — as they spoke of the teen’s mental problems.
“He needs psychiatric help. That’s what triggered that [attack],” the mom said. “He has psychosis. Whatever he did, he didn’t think he [the victim] was going to fall. My son is a good son.”
The Department of Education refused to comment, citing student privacy laws.
Cordero, who has nine prior arrests, had previously been institutionalized for mental-health issues, his family said.
“My son got mental problems, and they let him out because he is 18,” his mother said.