Gerardo Sanchez, charged with murder for stabbing a fellow New York City subway passenger, is currently being held by authorities for the attack. The man stabbed over subway seat dispute has been identified as Dwight Johnson, is believed to be homeless. Sanchez is accused of stabbing Johnson in the face and neck with a steak knife. Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene.
This attack was only the second murder on the Subway system this year. Such attacks, which used to be common, have become a rare occurrence in recent years. Read more about Gerardo Sanchez and see a video below.
Gerardo Sanchez is an exterminator who has been charged with Second Degree Murder after stabbing Dwight Johnson. It appears that the pair got into an argument over a subway seat on the Northbound “D” train.
The attack occurred yesterday morning and Sanchez was taken into custody at the scene of the crime. Fellow passengers alerted the operator of the train who locked all the doors to the car and alerted transit authority police. When the train pulled into the station Sanchez was taken into custody.
The New York news outlets are reporting that the victim was told by Sanchez to give up his seat. The victim then punched Sanchez in the face and then Sanchez responded by stabbing the victim in the face and neck. He died on the subway car.
After reading the reports of the story it’s clear that a defense is already being formulated. Sanchez works as an exterminator and recently was injured on the job after falling through some unstable flooring. Co-workers and neighbors reported that he may be abusing pain-pills after the accident, and acquaintances are stating that since the fall Sanchez has been acting strangely. The defense attorney is going to go right to that fact and use that in an attempt to lessen the charges, or even seek for a complete dismissal of the charges.
Generally such claims help reduce the eventual charges, but they won’t earn an acquittal for the suspect. So, it looks like Gerardo Sanchez will be spending some time behind bars, but it’s unlikely that he will spend the majority of his life in prison. It would not surprise me to see the murder charge plead down to voluntary manslaughter, or the New York equivalent of that crime. My guess is 5-10 years behind bars.
So, as it stands right now Gerardo Sanchez, charged with murder, for stabbing a fellow Subway passenger, is facing significant time in prison if convicted on the original charges. It is pretty sad to read “Man Stabbed Over Subway Seat Dispute” but at the same time this does appear to be a random attack that could have happened anywhere. The New York Subway system used to be the scene for all sorts of attacks of this nature, but they have undertaken significant steps to reduce the amount of crime on the subways. I’d love for you all to share your crazy subway stories in the comments below.
November 22nd, 2009 at 11:14 pm
There should be an added security in the area. I was in Asia one time and in their trains are at least three securities roaming inside the train. And in every stop, the security people exchange their posts. Plus before a person can enter the waiting area, securities at the gate checked the belongings of every passenger like that at the airport.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:46 am
years ago I was riding standing in the crowded D train from a job back to my upper west side digs and suddenly the doors at the back of the car sprung open and a crowd of people came running in screaming “he just killed three people” and a crazy stampede started where big adults were running over little kids heads. Two cars emptied out into ours and they stopped the train and locked us in the middle of a dark tunnel. Half an hours later a dozen big burly transit police officers came thru our car and went to the car behind us. shortly later the train started moving and it was like nothing happened. it wasn’t even covered in the news. it was like it never happened. another time, a bunch of white garb clothed black muslims came thru asking for donations and I just ignored them and a punk among them stopped in front of me lecturing me that the polite thing was to give donations to their cause, or else. He had three tall body gaurd like dudes around him, and I just looked at him and said “I already gave today!” and he looked disgustedly at me and did the “uh huh, thats right” on me and then the group left. that’s the nyc subway!!
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:24 am
Gerardo Sanchez sounds like a real dick
November 23rd, 2009 at 6:12 am
Why would this the fellow who was defending hjimself after being punched in the head over a subway seat be a dick? Would it be okay for a homeless man to punch your grandm,other in the face if he wants her seat? How about your daughter or yourself after you had surgery over a work related accident? Since when did taxpayers have to allow themselves to be victimized? How would you resolve this attack? It is easy to say that the man with the knife overreacted but he doesn’t know what the homeless guy had in his hand when he got hit, or how else to stop an already ongoing physical attack when in a compromised seated position. The blame now goes to the victin for defending his life. The fight didn’t escalate to physical threat until the seated man was punched. Sanchez could have died from a punch as well.
November 23rd, 2009 at 6:21 am
How many punches is allowed by law before you can defend yourself? Was Sanchez suppose to go into his MMA Vulcan stance and passively use the homeless man’s momentum to incapacitate him without any injury? Did he forget to use his supervision to detect if the homeless man was armed as well? What is the average citizen supposed to do? I’d like to see a video of random test subjects getting punched in the head while seated and see how well they react. Going fetal is not really a defense, remember that means you’re still cowering on the homeless man’s “bed”.
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:10 am
Why was Sanchez carrying a steak knife on the subway in the first place?
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:01 pm
OK…PLZ READ THE STORY TWICE. The victim was told by the killer to get up. You don’t bring a knife, gun, bat to a fist fight. The homeless person deals daily with peple trying to bully him. This gu stood over him. Did he deseve to die for not giving up his seat?
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:08 pm
“After reading the reports of the story it’s clear that a defense is already being formulated. Sanchez works as an exterminator and recently was injured on the job after falling through some unstable flooring. Co-workers and neighbors reported that he may be abusing pain-pills after the accident, and acquaintances are stating that since the fall Sanchez has been acting strangely. The defense attorney is going to go right to that fact and use that in an attempt to lessen the charges, or even seek for a complete dismissal of the charges”
That’s why he’s a dick. If it was really self-defense, man up and tell the truth instead of hiding behind this lame painkillers-made-me-do-it excuse. So why the excuse? Probably because his lawyer has more common sense than you do, and realizes that the response was wildly disproportionate. Based on the information we have so far, your assumption that it was self-defense is completely unwarranted. You don’t go from getting punched to stabbing someone. And your comparison to a little old grandmother getting punched is irrelevant. We’re talking about two guys, roughly the same age, and if anything Gerardo Sanchez is probably fitter than a homeless guy. He’s justified in killing someone because he got punched? I definitely feel like he’s justified in punching back, but stabbing the guy to death? Ridiculous.
November 23rd, 2009 at 6:32 pm
One day after work in 2002 I boarded an uptown D train after work. The only available seat was one that shared a back with the seat behind it. The person sitting in that seat was a young, caucasian female of about 22 years old. She looked like a grad student or something (jeans, backpack, etc…) and was sleeping (or so I thought). I sat behind her and was reading a book when I nodded off. I awoke to feel someone punching me in the neck. I got up and spun around and it was this grad student girl. She then spit me in the face and lunged at me. I didn’t swing at her but grabbed her shoulders and push her away. As soon as I did that everybody scattered because of what they thought was a fight. Unfortunately, many people only became aware after I pushed her away. They hadn’t seen when she punched me in the neck. She was pretty relentless but I kept fending her off. I was soooo tempted to knock her out with one punch and easily could have but showed tremendous restraint. The only thing other people in the car did was look away. I heard somebody say, “Get off the train if you want to fight.” I responded that I wasn’t fighting but was being attacked. I got off the train when the doors opened on 59th St. and walked across the platform to the uptown local. As my train was pulling away. I could see the girl who had attacked me with a transit cop walking through the car. I’m really glad I got away from that situation. The likelihood of the police believing me (a thirty something latino man) over a young, caucasian female are pretty slim, unfortunately.
November 24th, 2009 at 5:19 am
“You don’t bring a knife, gun, bat to a fist fight”, when was this victim rule official and what sport are we playing? Someone punching you bare fisted in the face can kill you, that is why they have rules, padded gloves, mouthpieces, eight count rules. You also have to sign up for that sport, not sprung on you by the initial aggressor. The homeless guy wouldn’t give up his bag taking up space next to his seat according to other reports. And all people get bullied on a daily basis. What if Sanchez’s previous injuries makes it painful to stand? And standing over someone is what you have to do if you are in a subway and asking for a seat, otherwise you’re now talking over several people sitting down.