Manhattan subway stabbing: Suspect held without bail for deadly attack at station

Detectives in Manhattan booked on Saturday the suspect behind a deadly stabbing at a train station on Friday afternoon.

Diego Figueroa-Hepner, 24, of West 172nd Street faces charges of murder and criminal possession of a weapon for the death of Johnny Medina, who was fatally attacked at the 175th Street station on the A line in Washington Heights at about 5:55 p.m. on June 21.

Officers from the 33rd Precinct and NYPD Transit District 3, in responding to a 911 call about the assault, found Medina in the station mezzanine with multiple stab wounds to his torso.

Police believe the victim and his attacker — who lived on the same block of West 172nd Street — were known to each other, though the motive remains under investigation.

In a statement, MTA Communications Director Tim Minton said the attack stemmed from an incident that began on the street level, and ended inside the station.

“This was a senseless attack that spilled from the street to the subway, and we appreciate the NYPD’s rapid investigation, using video from transit cameras, to identify and arrest the suspect within hours,” Minton said in a statement.

EMS rushed Medina to Harlem Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

During his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Saturday afternoon, Judge Michael E. Ryan ordered Figueroa-Hepner held in custody without bail, and to return to court on June 27 for a follow-up hearing, according to court records.

Through June 16, the 33rd Precinct had tallied just one homicide year-to-date, one less from the two recorded at the same point in 2023, according to the most recent CompStat report. Transit crime is also down in the command; just five incidents have been reported in transit, down from seven at the same time last year.

Updated on June 23 at 8:05 a.m.

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