- Jason Volz, 54, was shoved onto tracks in East Harlem on Monday night
- Carlton McPherson, 24, has been charged with his murder and has previous arrests for assault
- His brother Daquan McPherson revealed how he begged medics to keep his mentally ill brother in the hospital before the attack
A man who was killed after being pushed onto subway tracks has been identified, as the suspect’s brother revealed he was released from a mental hospital two weeks ago.
Jason Volz, 54, died after being shoved onto at the tracks at the 125th Street station at Lexington Avenue in East Harlem.
Carlton McPherson, 24, is accused of pushing Volz just as a 4 train approached at around 7pm on Monday.
McPherson has mental health issues, as well as a long criminal history stretching back to age 16.
His brother, Daquan McPherson, has since confirmed he was released from a mental hospital just two weeks ago, despite his family begging the facility to keep him in.
‘The city failed Carlton,’ his older brother told the New York Post.
‘The city is failing all mentally ill people. There’s too much red tape. He just got out of the hospital two weeks ago. We begged them to keep him but they said he wasn’t a threat to himself or others so they couldn’t keep him and they let him go.
‘They released him. In New York City the mentally ill have two options — either they go to jail or do something that lands them in the newspaper.’
He added that his brother had made repeated calls to a suicide and crisis hotline over the last six weeks to no avail.
‘Carlton suffers from severe mental illness,’ Daquan added. ‘He gets to these places where he’s incoherent. Carlton would sit in a dark room with no TV, with a hood on. That’s not the behavior of a mentally healthy person.
‘Once he jumped off a roof because he thought people were chasing him,’ Daquan McPherson said. ‘I tried my best to get help for Carlton. I literally called 988 [crisis hotline] multiple times in the last six months. I literally begged them.’
McPherson is now facing murder charges over Volz’s death. They add to a lengthy rap sheet for violent crimes.
Most recently he was arrested in October 2023 for assault, but was freed on bond and is expected back in court on that charge in July.
Daquan denied that his brother is a ‘career criminal’ and said he was a troubled young man.
‘Carlton did not choose the wrong path nor was he a career criminal,’ he said. ‘He was raised in a church surrounded by love. But, unfortunately, he was sick and did not get the help he needed in time.’
He also offered his ‘deepest condolences’ to Volz’s family, who said the victim had recently turned his life around after struggling with addiction.
‘You had a lunatic on the subway and it ended tragically for my nephew,’ the victim’s uncle, Eddie Volz, told PIX11 News, adding that Volz was a caring person.
‘As far as I knew him, his whole life, that would be his top quality. He always cared more about others than he did for himself.’
Eye witness to the tragedy Brendan Daniel described his horror watching it unfold.
‘I felt like a pit in my stomach when I heard it, and just felt really sad for the person that it happened to,’ he told the outlet.
McPherson was held without bail following an arraignment on Tuesday night.
The New York Post reported that he appeared disorientated during the hearing and made unintelligible noises.
He is due back in court on Friday.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
