Now, hate rap in fatal attack on Chinese man

The man accused of fatally beating a Chinese immigrant as he collected recyclables in East Harlem to support his family has been hit with upgraded hate crime charges for the vicious attack.

Jarrod Powell, 50, who is homeless, has been incarcerated on Rikers Island since the brutal April 23 assault of Yao Pan Ma. The 61-year-old succumbed to his injuries on Dec. 31 after eight months in a medically induced coma with brain damage and facial fractures.

At a hearing Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court, prosecutors charged Powell with murder in the second degree as a hate crime. They requested the homeless man’s bail be increased to $3 million cash, which a judge granted.

“The devastating death of Yao Pan Ma, a beloved father of two, occurred amid a surge of anti-Asian attacks targeting our families, friends, neighbors and New York values,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “As alleged, Jarrod Powell selectively attacked Mr. Ma for no other reason than his race.”

Bragg added that his office was currently prosecuting 33 anti-Asian hate crimes, the most since the DA’s hate crimes unit was established in 2010.

Karlin Chan, a spokesman for Ma’s family and Chinatown community advocate, told the Daily News the upgraded charges brought a measure of justice.

“We are happy that the Manhattan DA’s office upgraded the charges to murder as a hate crime and for their dedication to detail and this case,” said Chan.

“We remain optimistic that the district attorney will secure a conviction and Powell is held accountable for his actions.”

Ma lost his Chinatown restaurant job during the pandemic and was pushing a cart full of recyclables at E. 125th St. and Third Ave. when Powell attacked him from behind, prosecutors charge.

Surveillance footage police released in the aftermath showed Ma’s attacker stomping on his head multiple times, kicking him in the head and face as he lay helplessly on the street.

An MTA bus driver witnessed the assault and flagged an ambulance. Police arrested Powell three days later at a men’s homeless shelter on Wards Island, where he had lived for 10 months. He told authorities he’d attacked Ma because he’d been robbed by two Asian men the day before, according to an indictment. He pleaded not guilty to the new charge.

Powell’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.