Guiying Ma pictured before the brutal Nov. 26 attack (GoFundMe)
Mar. 1, 2022 By Allie Griffin
A 62-year-old Asian American woman from North Corona has died three months after she was brutally beaten by a man with a rock.
GuiYing Ma succumbed to her injuries on Feb. 22, her family announced yesterday. Ma suffered severe head injuries when a man beat her with a large rock in the face and head on Nov. 26.
She was placed in a medically induced coma at Elmhurst Hospital after the attack. She came out of her coma in early February before dying in the hospital.
Her alleged attacker, 33-year-old Elisaul Perez of Brooklyn, repeatedly struck Ma until she was knocked unconscious, police said at the time of the assault. Perez was reportedly sleeping on the sidewalk which Ma was sweeping before he allegedly attacked her.
He was arrested at the scene and charged with felony assault and harassment. Officials said the charges are likely to be upgraded now that Ma has died.
“We are reviewing the latest development in this tragedy and will add or upgrade any appropriate charges supported by the evidence,” a spokesperson for the Queens District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “In the meanwhile, on behalf of the District Attorney, we extend our condolences to the family.”
Ma’s cause of death was “complications of blunt impact injury of the head.”
Guiying Ma in her hospital bed shortly after the attack (GoFundMe)
Shortly before her death, Ma was beginning to communicate with her husband Zhanxin Gao through body movements and reactions.
“Despite being connected to a ventilator and a feeding tube, Mrs. Ma responded to Mr. Gao by moving her eyes and tearing up when Mr. Gao would speak to her at the hospital,” her family wrote in a statement posted on a GoFundMe page that they launched last year to raise money to help cover her medical costs. The fund has raised more than $200,000.
The family also said she even raised her hand in response to her husband.
Ma came to New York from Liaoning, China, four years ago and is survived by her husband, one son and two grandchildren.
“She will be remembered as an outgoing, friendly and kind individual who took care of everyone, and insisted on giving to others even when she had very little to give,” her family said.
Ma is the fourth Asian American to die from a violent assault in New York City in recent months. Yao Pan Ma, Michelle Go and Christina Yuna Lee were all killed in violent attacks, sending shock waves and fear through the Asian American Pacific Islander community in New York.
Only the death of Yao Pan Ma has been ruled a hate crime.
The family of GuiYing Ma urge law enforcement to keep the AAPI community safe.
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