Yao Pan Ma was hospitalized in April after being pushed to the ground and kicked in the head in East Harlem. He died on December 31, the police said.

An Asian Immigrant in New York died last week after he was left in a coma by a brutal assault in April that the police said was a hate crime, officials said.

The man, Yao Pan Ma, was pushing a grocery cart full of bottles and cans that he had collected on April 23 when he was suddenly approached from behind and attacked in East Harlem. He fell onto the sidewalk, was kicked in the head, and stomped on several times, the police said.

Mr. Ma. 61, was placed on a ventilator and remained hospitalized since the assault occurred near 125th Street and Third Avenue. He had severe head injuries, and there was bleeding in his brain. 

The man arrested in the attack, Jarrod Powell, 49, was charged with attempted murder and two counts of assault as a hate crime at the time. The Manhattan district attorney's office said that upgraded murder charges were expected to be filed on Saturday.

The New York Police Department received 128 reports of anti-Asian hate crimes through November, which represented a sharp rise from the 28 recorded through the period in 2020. Community groups have said that anti-Asian attacks have been long underreported because of language barriers and distrust of the police.

Mr. Powell was arrested a few days after the attack. Police have found him at a shelter he has been living in for the last ten months. 

According to the court records, Mr. Powell denied "having problems with Asians" in interviews with officers. He said that he had been robbed a day before the attack by two men, one Korean and one Japanese, but did not call 911 or offer any physical descriptions besides their ethnicities, according to the documents said.

According to the filings, Mr. Powell claimed that Mr. Ma was one of the men. He said he saw him on the streets the next day and had been verbally provoked. When Mr. Ma fell to the ground, Mr. Powell said he thought, "I am not going to let you up" and began kicking him, according to the filings say.

Mr. Powell's next court appearance is scheduled for February 10.