Latest news with #McWilliams
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Queens great-grandma beaten by unhinged woman on NYC subway train can't shake feeling attacker is still ‘behind' her: ‘I heard ‘bop!'
A great-grandmother from Queens who was badly beaten by an unhinged woman in a Midtown subway station last month is frightened to ride the rails after the harrowing unprovoked beating, she told The Post. Aurore Gonzalez, 73 — who was allegedly pummeled by Marie McWilliams, 36, May 1 — said she can't shake the terrifying feeling that her attacker is still right 'behind' her. 'She hit me as I was stepping off the train and I heard 'bop!'' she told The Post Tuesday, the same day McWilliams was arrested for assault. 'Then I started falling backwards and sliding, and I fell into homeless person's belongings covered in feces,' she said. Weeks after the nightmarish ordeal, Gonzalez said she still suffers from sleeplessness and anxiety. 'I still take the subway and I look around now,' said Gonzalez, who has five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. '[I'm] looking behind my head all the time. I'm looking for her.' Gonzalez was riding the Manhattan-bound E train to her job cleaning law offices at around 4:30 p.m when she allegedly heard McWilliams jabbering racist comments to herself. 'She was just talking loud to herself about Puerto Ricans and blacks and saying that they're no good and that they shouldn't be here!' said Gonzalez. Gonzalez, who is Hispanic, said she turned around and asked the erratic straphanger, 'Are you talking to me?!' McWilliams 'didn't say anything' but followed her as she stepped off the train at the Fifth Avenue-53rd Street station — and then she pounced, repeatedly punching her, she said. 'When I was stepping off the train she hit me in the back of the head,' she said. 'She grabbed my bun…and she started scratching me with a blade on my face,' said Gonzalez, who still had two black eyes from the assault Tuesday. 'I [was] bleeding and I fell into a homeless person's crap and I had to go to my job,' she said. Gonzalez said she now suffers from kidney trouble due to the fall, along with scarring near her eye and migraine headaches. 'This just isn't right. I'm in pain. I have to be on painkillers,' said Gonzalez. 'I couldn't sleep for two weeks. The anxiety, I couldn't eat. At night on my job I would just cry,' said Gonzalez. Asked about her attacker's arrest, Gonzalez said she's 'relieved.' 'I am so happy to hear this. I will testify! She should not have done that. She should keep her hands to herself!' Gonzalez said. 'Have some respect for older people!' McWilliams was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court Tuesday and granted supervised release by Judge Marva Brown over prosecutors' request for $10,000 cash bail or $30,000 bond.
New York Post
a day ago
- New York Post
Queens great-grandma beaten by unhinged woman on NYC subway train can't shake feeling attacker is still 'behind' her
A great-grandmother from Queens who was badly beaten by an unhinged woman in a Midtown subway station last month is frightened to ride the rails after the harrowing unprovoked beating, she told The Post. Aurore Gonzalez, 73 — who was allegedly pummeled by Marie McWilliams, 36, May 1 — said she can't shake the terrifying feeling that her attacker is still right 'behind' her. 'She hit me as I was stepping off the train and I heard 'bop!'' she told The Post Wednesday — one day after McWilliams was arrested for assault. 8 Aurore Gonzalez, 73, was assaulted on the subway in Midtown on May 1, 2025. J.C. Rice 'Then I started falling backwards and sliding, and I fell into homeless person's belongings covered in feces,' she said. Weeks after the nightmarish ordeal, Gonzalez said she still suffers from sleeplessness and anxiety. 'I still take the subway and I look around now,' said Gonzalez, who has five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. '[I'm] looking behind my head all the time. I'm looking for her.' Gonzalez was riding the Manhattan-bound E train to her job cleaning law offices at around 4:30 p.m when she allegedly heard McWilliams jabbering racist comments to herself. 'She was just talking loud to herself about Puerto Ricans and blacks and saying that they're no good and that they shouldn't be here!' said Gonzalez. 8 Gonzalez told The Post she has been afraid to ride the subway since the assault. J.C. Rice 8 Marie McWilliams was arrested for the beating. Steven Hirsch Gonzalez, who is Hispanic, said she turned around and asked the erratic straphanger, 'Are you talking to me?!' McWilliams 'didn't say anything' but followed her as she stepped off the train at the Fifth Avenue-53rd Street station — and then she pounced, repeatedly punching her, she said. 'When I was stepping off the train she hit me in the back of the head,' she said. 8 Gonzalez said she heard McWilliams making racist comments before the random attack. Steven Hirsch 8 McWilliams seen at a subway station on May 1, 2025. NYPD 8 McWilliams allegedly struck Gonzalez as the grandmother was leaving the train in an unprovoked attack. NYPD 'She grabbed my bun…and she started scratching me with a blade on my face,' said Gonzalez, who still had two black eyes from the assault Wednesday. 'I [was] bleeding and I fell into a homeless person's crap and I had to go to my job,' she said. Gonzalez said she now suffers from kidney trouble due to the fall, along with scarring near her eye and migraine headaches. 'This just isn't right. I'm in pain. I have to be on painkillers,' said Gonzalez. 8 Gonzalez told The Post she still has a feeling like her attacker is standing behind her over a month later. J.C. Rice 8 A bruise seen on the side of Gonzalez's face. J.C. Rice 'I couldn't sleep for two weeks. The anxiety, I couldn't eat. At night on my job I would just cry,' said Gonzalez. Asked about her attacker's arrest, Gonzalez said she's 'relieved.' 'I am so happy to hear this. I will testify! She should not have done that. She should keep her hands to herself!' Gonzalez said. 'Have some respect for older people!' McWilliams was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court Tuesday and granted supervised release by Judge Marva Brown.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Woman accused of punching 73-year-old subway rider in NYC train station
MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) — A woman is accused of attacking a 73-year-old subway rider in a Manhattan train station last month, police said. Bronx resident Marie McWilliams, 36, was arrested Tuesday and charged with assault in connection with the May 1 incident in the Fifth Avenue-53rd Street subway station in Midtown, according to the NYPD. McWilliams allegedly started yelling at the 73-year-old woman while they were on the Manhattan-bound E train before repeatedly punching the woman as she got off the train at around 4:30 p.m., authorities said. The victim was treated at the scene for minor injuries. The suspect got on a Queens-bound E train after the incident, police said. McWilliams' arraignment was pending Tuesday. The arrest was announced the same day that authorities said crime in the city's subway system has decreased, especially on trains and platforms. Transit crime is down about 5% this year. But when it comes to assaults, the primary cause is mental illness, police said. 'We have done a very good job targeting areas that we do see more prolific people who assault individuals in transit,' police said. Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the NYC area for more than a decade. She has been with PIX11 News for two years. See more of her work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Big Spring ISD adapts budget to school voucher legislation
BIG SPRING, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) – Education Savings Accounts were a top priority for the Texas Legislature this session. Senate Bill 2 – which includes school vouchers – was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on May 3. Local school districts are now figuring out how to adapt to the new legislation and work it into their budgets before the next school year. Leaders at Big Spring ISD said it is hard to determine because it depends on the number of students leaving the district to attend a private school or homeschool. 'If a child does that, that means we lose that child from our district,' said Big Spring ISD Superintendent Jay McWilliams. 'They're going somewhere else. That hurts us in terms of our overall ADA, which is our average daily attendance. So if our attendance starts to drop because kids are taking advantage of that, that would definitely hurt us. It would be less money coming in from the state based on our average daily attendance.' The district also receives money from the state for students on a per-child basis. School officials said that amount has not increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. 'We had kids out of school for months,' said McWilliams. 'A lot of kids didn't come back. They went the online option. They went the virtual option. That turned into a disaster for a lot of people. We've had inflation. It went crazy since 2019. The state has not added money to the basic allotment since 2019. We've had the same amount for six years. Even though the inflation rate, the cost of living has went through the roof. That's another thing that needs to be adjusted that would really affect our finances.' School officials have also been looking at the budget since early April to be proactive about any changes the new legislation could cause. 'The House wants to add $395 to the basic allotment. That's good, but it's not near enough. But it would be a great help. Right now we're hearing the senate, they're not wanting to do that. They're wanting to add maybe $50, which to us is a slap in the face. I'll just be honest. But you're working on a budget, you're trying to utilize to your best ability the money that we anticipate coming in, not only from the state, but from our mineral values and our property values,' said McWilliams. Superintendent McWilliams said he still believes in the value of a public education. 'I fully believe in public education. I know what it did for me, I know what it did for my kids, I know what it's doing for my three grandkids that are all in public schools. I would also say to the people or the noise on the outside that say 'nowadays I don't think I'd send my kids to public school,' until you've actually worked in a public school setting, until you've worked with the people that I've worked with, that I've been blessed to work with for all these years, I don't think you really know the dedication and professionalism and love for kids until you've been around them.' Big Spring ISD has been looking at the budget since early April to adapt to the new legislation. Teacher retention was a topic of the budget as well: Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Yahoo
Franklin County deputies search for missing boy last seen in Silverlake
FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — The Franklin County Sheriff's Office is searching for a boy last seen on Wednesday evening in Silverlake. According to the sheriff's office, Cole McWilliams hasn't been seen since 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday, May 14. See the latest coverage of people missing in Kentucky Report a missing person(s) to FOX 56 News He's described as standing 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing 130 pounds. Deputies said McWilliams was last seen wearing black joggers and no shirt with dark Crocs. The Franklin County Sheriff's Office said that he's known to frequent Lakeview Park. Read more of the latest Kentucky news If you have any information regarding his whereabouts, call (502) 875-8582. This is a developing story. Stay with FOX 56 News for updates. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
