A New York man who violently shoved a woman into a moving subway train in an unprovoked 2023 attack was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in state prison, according to Manhattan prosecutors.
Kamal Semrade, 42, was convicted earlier this year of attempted murder and first-degree assault for the attack at the Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street subway station on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
The incident left victim Emine Yilmaz Ozsoy permanently paralyzed from the shoulders down.
Prosecutors said the attack occurred during the early morning hours of May 21, 2023. Ozsoy, then 35, had boarded the same train as Semrade at the Roosevelt Avenue station in Queens while commuting to work.
After both exited the train in Manhattan, surveillance footage showed Semrade following behind her on the platform before suddenly shoving her head and neck-first into the side of a departing subway car.
The impact caused Ozsoy to strike the moving train before she was thrown back onto the platform, fracturing her spine. Despite undergoing multiple surgeries and extensive rehabilitation, she remains unable to walk or live independently.
During Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, Ozsoy delivered an emotional victim impact statement describing how the attack permanently altered her life.
“There hasn’t been a single moment when I have been able to leave this experience behind,” she told the court. She also said she can no longer continue her work as an artist and now relies heavily on others for daily care.
Judge Althea Drysdale sentenced Semrade to 20 years in prison, noting what she described as the “randomness” and brutality of the attack. The judge also criticized Semrade for showing no visible remorse throughout the proceedings.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the sentence reflected the devastating consequences of the crime.
“Kamal Semrade violently pushed a woman into a moving train, uprooting her life and leaving her with catastrophic, permanent injuries,” Bragg said in a statement released after sentencing.
Authorities said Semrade fled the station immediately after the attack and returned to a Queens shelter later that day. Shelter employees later identified him from NYPD CrimeStoppers images, leading to his arrest two days later.
The case drew widespread attention across New York City and renewed concerns about subway safety and random acts of violence in the transit system.
Officials have since expanded security initiatives throughout the subway network, including increased police patrols and the installation of platform barriers at select stations.
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