Woman, 84, dies after being pushed off Little Tokyo Metro platform, officials say [Updated]

Authorities are saying that a push sent an 84-year-old woman to her death after she fell onto the tracks at the Metro station in Little Tokyo.

[Corrected at 1:33 p.m.: Coroner's officials initially reported that the woman was 86. She was 84.]

Betty Sugiyama was standing on the platform at the Gold Line station on Sunday morning when another woman pushed her off, police said. Detectives said witnesses reported that Sugiyama did not provoke the attack.

Jackkqueline Pogue, 44, was arrested on the platform soon after, and is expected to be charged with murder, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

A motive was unclear Monday afternoon, as homicide detectives continued their investigation.

After the incident, Sugiyama was taken to a nearby hospital, where she died Sunday night. Assistant chief coroner Ed Winter said it appeared she was not struck by a train.

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-- Robert Faturechi

Photo: DMV via KTLA News

Comments

[Charlie Potts]

"I imagine that a woman with the name, "Jackkqueline" comes from a part of town where drugs are more prevalent and drugs might have been part of the problem."

See what prohibition does? If the drugs were legal and regulated poor Ms. Sugiyama might be alive today.

Drugs don't cause crime, black markets do.

[SF Irish Rebel]

Give the B*tch the Death Penalty!

[Adam V]

Marijuana has nothing to do with this tragedy. That implication is absolutely ridiculous not to mention ignorant. The person responsible must have some anger, mental issues of her own. I feel for the family of this tragedy and hope that the person responsible is brought to justice. This world can be a disgusting place...

[Art]

She's innocent until proven guilty.

First, it should be pointed out that if you did it, you're guilty, no matter what. So you're not innocent unless you're truly innocent. However, our system presumes innocence, which means that legally speaking, even the obviously guilty are treated as though they are innocent, until they are proven otherwise.

[amazingaro]

really sad to read something like this, about all concerned,WHY????? What was going on with this poor person who did the pushing??? GOD HAVE MERCY, sad that people can be so lost,so forgotten to perhaps "reachout" in such a way,i feel for all these people involved,

[Steve]

Right. If the woman had been on marijuana, she would have pushed her; she would have eaten her.

Blessings to the Sugiyama family; death to her killer.

[Cara D]

Such a tragic thing to happen. My blessings are with the family of this elderly woman.

Metro stations and platforms are nut traps and are built terribly wrong. I haven't found one yet where I feel really secure. Doesn't matter what part of town I'm in, there's always some freak hanging out.

[tracey]

"I imagine that a woman with the name, "Jackkqueline" comes from a part of town where drugs are more prevalent and drugs might have been part of the problem.
Thankfully, the Calif folks were SMART ENOUGH to not make Marijuana legal."

I am not in favor of Prop 19, but your argument is a slippery slope. For all we know, this woman could have been her aquaintance. Or simply just a silly argument broke out while waiting for the train. She didn't choose her name, her parents did.

[Joe]

I don't care if this woman was mentally ill...that is no excuse to kill. Sorry, if she can do this now she can do it again.

That poor elderly womans life was ended because of this other persons utter stupidity, mentally ill or not she should forfeit her life for the victims...sadly she will probably go to a mental ward for her life and guess who flips the bill folks? You guessed it, you and I...and it's very, very, very expensive to house and care for them (like 200k a year). This is not justice, justice is putting an end to a life that takes a life (and I'm not talking about 20 years here)

[parker]

stevor stfu. first off you're stereotyping. and why are you so quick to put the blame on drugs, maybe jesus told her to do it

[Mark]

Welcome to L.A.

[Eric]

Gerard,

So let me get this straight - you're saying the murderer in this case was summoned by California's communist government-sponsored Death Panels?? You. Are. Insane. This article contains news about a tragic murder, without a trace of anything political in it. Please stop hiding behind a computer screen and take your beliefs and conjugations to the political forums. This is not the place - please show respect for this poor woman's death, not crap all over it. Your sh*t smells.

P.S. - I'm a Republican. And I love California, the most populous and fiscally prosperous state in the Nation (home of Reagan the Great). People like you have soured the GOP's once fair image.

[got2bmor]

What crazed individual pushes an old lady in front of a train? My condolences to the family of this poor woman. To live all that time and have it end this tragically.

[Ruskinite]

@Gerald Sills

You may not realize that comments like yours really makes you "conservatives" to be wacko nut jobs. Don't you out-of-staters have anything better to do than to scan the "librul-commie-socialist L.A. Times" for spewing your nonsense?

[richard sun]

Dude...if this was my grandmother, mother, wife, etc. and i know it was out of nothing, i would hunt the murderer down like Dexter...Take justice into my own hands..Really!! Really!! a 86 year old helpless lady..I hope the murderer goes to hell..

[Lila]

Why don't they show a picture of the perpetrator instead of the victim? How would you like it if a friend or member of your family was just brutally murdered and they kept showing their picture instead of the murderer's?

[Char Siu]

Jackkqueline Pogue should donate all her organs while she is alive to someone deserving to live

[El Guapo de la ciudad de Los Angeles]

Spare change? Go away. Shove.

[No One]

Now wait a minute... Stevor, what the hell does marijuana have to do with it? Do you even know the facts? It's people like you that keep the ignorance level high. Do your research before making idiotic statements like that. Goodness, some people..

[Kunta Kinte]

Jackkqueline Pogue needs to die for this. i don't care if she's mentally ill she's of no use to society.

[OJ Simpson]

You better watch out when your on a platform alot ot crazies in LA.

[Charlie]

Some around here are a lot more mentally disturbed than the woman who pushed this poor lady. This country is so deeply divided than tragic news like this some idiots turn it into a political issue. It´s really sad the state of the affairs in America these days. Really, really sad. My condolences to the family of this lady.

[cordlesspizza]

I see this behavior all the time in Los Angeles. Waiting for the bus how people shove their way in front of others who are already about to board the train or bus. Allot of people are from 3 world countries that bring their uncultured ways with them. I once yelled at a little short lady from a 3 world country for pushing her way past a blind man while trying to force her way onto the red bus on Wilshire and Western. I really yelled at her and stuck my arm in front of her preventing her from getting in front of the blind old man. She just didnt not care untill I yelled at her then she felt bad for a few seconds then didnt care. Part of the problem also comes from overcrowding. Everyone wants a seat and pushes, fights to get one.

[So sad]

I live in Little Tokyo so this hits home. Everyday I see sweet old Japanese ladies walking around, I can't imagine why anybody would do something so cruel.

[Tony Blue]

What the eff does not making Marijuana legal have to do with this or any other crime? There are many more reasons people do stupid ish like this. Dam fool.