Yao Pan Ma, 61, had been collecting returnable bottles and cans in Harlem to raise money to buy food after he and his wife lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic when he was attacked from behind.
Karlin Chan, a community activist in New York City and a spokesman for Mr Ma's family, said:"We're fighting for justice and I hope never walks the streets as a free man. He needs to pay for what he did."
A police detective said Powell admitted attacking an Asian man at the approximate time and location of the attack on Mr Ma, and said he did so because the man had robbed him the day before.The case drew national attention as part of a rise in anti-Asian hate crime in the US Mr Ma and his wife had moved to the US in 2018 from China, where he had worked as a dim sum chef. After arriving in the US he had found work at a Chinese restaurant, making pastries and performing other kitchen tasks.
When the pandemic forced the restaurant to close Mr Ma lost his job - and he had not worked long enough to qualify for unemployment benefits. Mr Ma and his wife, who also lost her job as a home health care attendant, had been collecting the recyclables to buy food.Prior to the pandemic, in December 2019 they lost their Chinatown apartment in a fire and had moved in with relatives.
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