What happened to Yao Pan Ma? NYC man sentenced to 22 years in prison for beating an old Chinese immigrant

On Friday, March 31, 51-year-old New York man Jarrod Powell was sentenced to 22 years in prison for assaulting Yao Pan Ma, a 61-year-old Chinese immigrant who was collecting cans for money. According to Fox, the attack occurred in Harlem on April 23, 2021, when Ma was reportedly beaten into a coma by Powell. The immigrant would die 8 months later of a traumatic brain injury that he suffered in the attack.

Trigger warning: This article concerns a violent assault

According to New York City Police, Jarrod Powell was arrested four days after the assault. He confessed to investigators that he had perpetrated the attack on Yao Pan Ma because the victim was Chinese. In January, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter as a hate crime.

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Details of the assault on Yao Pan Ma

According to USA Today, Yao Pan Ma immigrated to America with his wife in October 2018. He was a dim sum chef in China, before working at a restaurant in New York. However, him and his wife had a streak of bad luck after their apartment caught fire in December 2019. In 2020, he lost his job during Covid, while his wife lost her job as a home health care attendant. As a result, the couple turned to collecting cans to support themselves after the lockdown.

On the day of the assault, Jarrod Powell reportedly attacked Yao Pan Ma from behind, before stomping on his head several times. In the eight months that he was hospitalized prior to his death, he never regained consciousness. According to CNN, he died on December 31, 2021.

According to Kelly Chan, a spokesperson for the victim's family, the Chinese community in America are no strangers to unprovoked hate crimes.

Chan told NPR reporters:

"Hate crimes against Asians, against Chinese is nothing new to me. I'm in my mid-60s, and I grew up in New York City on the Lower East Side here in the '60s, '70s. There has always been resentment and bias against the Chinese in this country."

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said that the death of the former chef is indicative of a concerning surge in hate crimes.

He said:

"The devastating death of Yao Pan Ma, a beloved father of two, occurred amidst a surge of anti-Asian attacks targeting our families, friends, neighbors, and New York values."

As per New York Police Department records, there were 524 hate crime incidents in 2021. Cases seem to only be rising, with the number having almost doubled since 2020's 265 hate crime incidents.

According to Kelly Chan, the Chinese Community in New York has rallied around Ma's family to provide moral support. Prominent leaders such Elaine Chu, the head of the Asian Bar Association, have commended the prosecution of Powell.