An 83-year-old US Air Force veteran has died days after a man shoved him onto New York City subway tracks. 

Richard Williams was enjoying his usual errands on March 8 around 11.30am in the Upper East Side, when the alleged suspect, Bairon Hernandez, 34, pushed the elderly man onto the tracks while he waited for the F and Q trains at the Lexington Avenue-63rd St. station. 

Just moments before, Hernandez sent another man, John Rodriguez, 30, flying onto the train tracks, the New York Police Department (NYPD) said. 

Rodriguez helped Williams off the tracks, while bystanders guided them back onto the platform just before a train came speeding into the station. 

Hernandez, who is originally from Honduras, fled the scene but was arrested early Tuesday morning at a shelter in Brooklyn after police received a tip, authorities said. 

Williams succumbed to his injuries on March 17, The New York Post reported. A medical examiner ruled his death a homicide.  

Hernandez has had his charged upgraded to second-degree murder, according to court records.  

‘We have no comment at this time,’ Hernandez’s attorney Mitchell Schuman said. ‘We have yet to see the indictment, concluded our investigation or reviewed the expected voluminous discovery materials.’

Richard Williams (pictured), an 83-year-old US Air Force veteran has died days after a man shoved him onto New York City subway tracks 

Richard Williams was enjoying his usual errands on March 8 around 11.30am in the Upper East Side, when the alleged suspect, Bairon Hernandez (pictured), 34, pushed the elderly man onto the tracks while he waited for the F and Q trains at the Lexington Avenue-63rd St. station 

The American Border Story, an initiative to bring attention to the crisis at the border, mourned Williams’ death and slammed open border policies. 

‘This case is a direct indictment of failed policies that allow dangerous individuals to repeatedly reenter our country and remain on our streets. Sanctuary policies and a refusal to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement have real, deadly consequences,’ a spokesperson said in a statement.

‘Richard Williams should still be alive today. Leaders who continue to obstruct immigration enforcement have blood on their hands and must be held accountable.’ 

The Daily Mail has reached out to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for comment. 

Williams’ daughter Debbie, who has declined comment on her father’s passing, previously told The Daily Mail that she was ‘wishing for a miracle.’ 

Debbie also said she would ‘love to meet the man who saved him,’ referring to Rodriguez.

Rodriguez’s current condition is unknown.  

When asked how she feels about Hernandez being arrested, she said: ‘I hope he burns in hell.’ 

Williams succumbed to his injuries on March 17 

Williams (left) is seen on the train platform just moments before the alleged assailant, Bairon Hernandez (right), pushed him onto the train tracks and fled the scene

The day it happened, Debbie said her father was out enjoying his usual shopping spree ‘like he always does,’ Daily News reported. 

‘Now none of that is probably going to happen again. He goes wherever he wants to go. He’s very healthy for an 83-year-old man that’s going to be 84. 

‘There’s absolutely nothing wrong with him. So for this whole thing to happen, it’s a real sin.’ 

Samantha Loria, Williams’ granddaughter, echoed Debbie’s heartbreak, adding that her grandfather has survived horrible events in the past. 

‘The hardest part is I can’t have a conversation or hug him again,’ Loria told CBS New York. 

‘Any time I visit him, we walk around. We would go to Manhattan. He would always say hi to everyone, ask how they’re dong. It doesn’t hurt anything to be kind.

‘He loves to walk. He survived a fire, cancer recently, and all he wanted to do is walk,’ she stated. 

Loria added: ‘Thank God there wasn’t a train coming.’ 

John Rodriguez (pictured), 30, was pushed onto the tracks just before Williams was. He helped get the elderly man to safety, and now Williams’ daughter, Debbie, wants to meet him, she told the Daily Mail 

Police posted images of Hernandez around the city and offered a $3,500 reward for information leading to his arrest

Before the attack, Debbie said her father was very active and healthy. 

‘He’s an incredible man. He likes reading. He likes walking,’ she said.  

Williams, who has three daughters and two granddaughters, just recently celebrated his 55th wedding anniversary, she said.

He previously had a career in making bulletproof equipment and lives on Roosevelt Island, she told the outlet. 

On Monday, Rodriguez told ABC 7 he is scared to ride the subway again after what happened. 

The Queens man was on his way to work when he was shoved onto the tracks with Williams, he said. 

‘I panicked, I started asking for help, not only for me but for the other man that was pushed,’ Rodriguez, who’s been left in an arm sling, told the outlet. 

Dramatic footage Rodriguez recorded after he was pushed showed Williams on the platform just before the suspect, seen next to him, shoved him. 

As that happened, a good Samaritan was seen trying to help bring Rodriguez to safety, police said. 

His shoulder and neck were injured, and he also developed a fever after the incident, the young man revealed. 

‘I get panic attacks just thinking about getting on the subway,’ he added. 

The footage helped police track down Hernandez after they posted images of him around the city and offered a $3,500 reward for information leading to his arrest.

He has been charged with attempted murder, attempted assault, assault and reckless endangerment, police said. 

Rodriguez, who lives in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, does not have a prior record in New York. 

Williams and Rodriguez do not know their alleged attacker or each other. 

It is unclear when Hernandez is due in court. The Daily Mail contacted the NYPD for comment.