TIMES SQUARE — A 49-year-old woman died after she was pushed in front of an oncoming 1 train at the 42nd Street-Times Square station Monday afternoon in what appeared to be an unprovoked assault, authorities and sources said.
Police arrested Melanie Liverpool-Turner, 30, after she shoved Connie Watton in front of a southbound 1 train at 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue around 1:20 p.m. when horrified passersby alerted police that she was calmly trying to walk out of the station, officials and sources said.
"A passerby followed a suspect up the stairs and pointed her out to a cop, which is what we ask people to do — when you see something, say something," a police official said.
Watton, who lived in Astoria, was pronounced dead at the scene. Liverpool-Turner was charged with second-degree murder, police said.
Sources said Liverpool-Turner, who has a history of mental illness, has been linked to another recent subway death on Oct. 19 when a German tourist was struck and killed by an L train in an apparent suicide at Union Square.
Eyewitnesses on the Union Square platform told police that the tourist — a student whose name was not released — was standing close to the platform edge as the train rolled in and then jumped to her death between two cars.
But a captain canvassing the platform after her death also spoke with a woman, who turned out to be Liverpool-Turner, and she told him: "I pushed her, I push people in front of trains, and I hear voices," according to sources.
Despite the apparent "confession," investigators did not believe she was responsible because other witnesses said she arrived on the platform after the tragedy.
And the victim's parents later told investigators that their daughter had been seeing a therapist over a personal issue.
Turner, who lives on Linden Boulevard in Queens, was taken to Bellevue Hospital after the Oct. 19 incident. It is unclear when she was released.
Detectives now are reviewing last month's death.
"We don't know, perhaps the October incident gave (Liverpool-Turner) the idea to do what she did (Monday), or if there's a chance she actually involved in last month's case," a police source said.
Sources say Liverpool-Turner has history of schizophrenia, and other emotional issues, including anxiety depression. She also has several misdemeanor arrests on her record, sources say.
Late Monday, detectives probing the Times Square murder continued to try to question the suspect and eyewitnesses to determine if any words were exchanged before the victim was shoved to her death.
But detectives do not believe there was any dialogue, according to sources.
Service along the 1, 2 and 3 trains was disrupted afterwards, but were back to normal by the next morning, according to the MTA's website.
