Who was Malik Jackson? Mom of naked subway shover who attacked disabled US Army vet says he ‘had a good heart’
A naked man who shoved a New Yorker off a subway platform on Saturday, January 16 afternoon, died after coming in contact with the third rail when he jumped onto the tracks to fight a good Samaritan who tried to help the victim.
The incident occurred at the 2 and 3 train station at 110th Street and Central Park North just before 4 pm. According to the New York Daily News, the man, now identified as, Malik Jackson, had been going up to people in the train station and was trying to dance near them. A witness stated that Jackson went up to another New Yorker who "felt disrespected, so he squared up like he was going to fight the naked man." That's when Jackson started hitting the victim before shoving him off the platform. Jackson had 23 prior arrests. You can watch the video of the incident here.
A good Samaritan, Tyler Horrel, a disabled US Army vet, who witnessed the incident then jumped onto the platform to help the victim. That's when Jackson also jumped off the platform and onto the trackbed and began hitting the Horrel. The footage from the scene shows a No. 3 train halt just in time as the two men threw punches. During the fight on the tracks, Jackson's shoulder made contact with the third rail. A witness told the Daily News that the Horrel had punched the man, causing him to fall onto the rail. "It was a heavy punch," the witness said. "That's when the naked man fell." Jackson then fell onto the third rail, which holds 625 volts of electricity and is enough to kill a person instantly. He was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later. Horrell and the victim were taken to a local hospital where they were treated for minor injuries.
Now, Jackson's mother, Ethel Trammell told NY Post that Jackson would typically have been the one to play the hero, not the villain. “I apologize for what he did to the people in the subway,” said Trammell, 53, of Far Rockaway, Queens. “But that just wasn’t him. Believe me, if my son jumped on the track, he would have jumped on the track to try to help you. My son had a good heart. He definitely would’ve helped,” the mom said. “He wouldn’t be pushing nobody down there. He would’ve been the one that would’ve jumped down there himself.”
Trammell said that Jackson was hurt by the Covid-19 situation, as he was not receiving any social service because of that. She further said that Jakcon was diagnosed with psychosis when he was a teenager, he started hearing voices and got paranoid that people around him want to dress up like him. She said she would send money and clothes for him to the West 110th Street homeless shelter where Jackson had been living.
“He was off his medication. The last time he was here was Jan. 4, which was his birthday. If he got off his medication, he just wasn’t stable, and the longer he was off, he would get aggressive. The guy on the subway, that definitely was not my son,” Trammell said. “This was one of the nicest guys in the world. He was so nice, he would give you the shirt off his back. And now people probably say, ‘Oh, the maniac in the subway,'” she added. “But his behavior doesn’t explain who he really was.”
“Since the COVID thing it’s different. He used to have a whole team that took care of him. But since COVID, nobody kept up with him. Nobody kept track. Before you had the visiting nurse, programs and stuff like that. People with mental illness don’t think they have a mental illness, so it’s hard. I’m out here in Queens, and he’s in Manhattan, and he’s trying the best he can,” she said. “But if you don’t have anyone watching you, taking care of you, you slip.”