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Woman Who Fatally Pushed Man into Subway in Sunnyside Sentenced to 24 Years

 Erika Menendez as police escort her from the 112th Precinct to a car, on Dec. 29, 2012.
Erika Menendez as police escort her from the 112th Precinct to a car, on Dec. 29, 2012.
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DNAinfo/Luis Ramirez

SUNNYSIDE — A woman who pleaded guilty to pushing a man to his death in front of a 7 train nearly three years ago was sentenced to 24 years in prison, officials said.

Erika Menendez, a 33-year-old Rego Park resident, was sentenced Wednesday for fatally shoving 46-year-old Sunando Sen into the path of an oncoming train at the 40th Street Station in Sunnyside on Dec. 27, 2012, according to the Queens District Attorney's Office. 

Menendez, who has been held without bail since her arraignment, pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge in March.

"The defendant committed what is every subway commuter’s worst nightmare — being suddenly and senselessly pushed into the path of an oncoming train," Queens DA Richard Brown said in a statement.

Mendendez's attorney, Joseph DeFelice, said his client had an "extensive history" of mental health issues.

"I think the lesson here is that the government is not expending sufficient funds for the mentally ill; they're not really attending to the needs of the mentally ill," he said. "I feel terrible for this man that was pushed under the tracks."

Sen, a Woodside resident originally from India, was remembered at his funeral as being intelligent and kind. He had opened his own copy shop in Manhattan just before his death, friends previously told DNAinfo.

"The victim was shoved from behind and had no chance to defend himself," Brown said. "His family and friends must now cope with the difficult task of adjusting to a life empty of the presence of their loved one."