The aunt of a straphanger who was fatally shoved in front of a Manhattan train said she wanted to rip the alleged killer’s “f-ing heart out” as she faced him in court for the first time Wednesday and condemned using mental illness as a justification for the random crime.
Christine Conte, 70, became enraged outside a Manhattan courtroom after accused subway shover Carlton McPherson pleaded not guilty to murdering her nephew, Jason Volz, at an East Harlem subway station last month.
“I wanted to leap out and rip his f-king heart out, rip his heart out,” Conte told reporters when asked about seeing McPherson for the first time.
As McPherson entered the tense courtroom, the heartbroken woman, who identified herself as Volz’s “caretaker,” sobbed uncontrollably and mumbled, “Why did he kill Jason?”
Court officers attempted to remove her, presumably at the request of Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber.
“If the judge just asked for it, you have to leave,” remarked one sergeant, who eventually let Conte and her kid stay when she calmed down.
Instead of flashing a wicked smirk like he did after his arrest, McPherson, 24, sat silently during his brief Manhattan Supreme Court arraignment on an indictment charging him with second-degree murder.
His family, including his brother, who has claimed McPherson suffers from bipolar disease, sat silently on the other side of the courtroom and did not speak after the hearing.
After court, Conte slammed the family’s accusations about McPherson’s mental instability, calling him an “evil person” and a “motherfucker.”
“He’s simply a vicious person. He’s harsh and troubled. Does this indicate that everyone who is ill requires medication?” I don’t think so,” Conte replied.
“Why are they constantly blaming everything on drugs or mental illness? No, there are many people in the world who desire to hurt others. They are just evil, demons. “They only want to hurt.”
The aunt previously told The Post that she cautioned Volz days before the deadly shove not to board the metro due to an increase in violence underneath.
McPherson reportedly shoved Volz, 55, a father and native New Yorker working as a carpenter, in front of a subway train at the East 125th Street and Lexington Avenue station just before 7 p.m. on March 25.
In a statement released Wednesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg described it as a “completely unprovoked act of violence” and vowed to continue holding assailants who target subway riders to justice.
“Mr. Volz was a father and native New Yorker, and my heart goes out to his family and loved ones in their ongoing grief,” Bragg said in a statement. “I thank the prosecutors for their hard work in securing this indictment, and we will continue to do all we can to hold people accountable who threaten the safety of fellow New Yorkers in our subway system.”
McPherson’s counsel was unavailable for comment following his court appearance.
The judge remanded McPherson in detention and ordered his return to court on August 12.
