Hewett-Brown, 25, shoved Sanchez to safety and reportedly wished her a 'Happy New Year' after he saw the elevator had stalled and was about to fall down the shaft.
[From article]
A New York City woman has spoken out about the moment she was was saved by a 25-year-old man who was crushed to death on New Year's Eve moments after he pushed the woman out of a broken elevator.
Stephen Hewett-Brown, 25, shoved Erude Sanchez to safety and reportedly wished her a 'Happy New Year' after he saw the elevator had stalled and was about to fall down the shaft of the 26-story building on Manhattan's Lower East Side.
'The elevator was going up when it came to a halt on the third floor,' Sanchez, 43, told NY1 through a translator. 'At that moment, the elevator started to move and the man held the door so I was able to go out from there.'
'He asked a guy who was there for help and that guy tried to take him out,' she added.
But moments later Hewett-Brown, who was thought to be attending a party in the building, was killed as he got stuck between the stalled lift and a door around 11.30pm.
It is thought the lift started moving as he tried to make his own escape.
[. . .]
The New York Police Department said the victim was unconscious, suffering from severe body trauma, when officers arrived shortly after midnight. He later died at the hospital.
A police spokesman said he had no information on the exact circumstances of Hewett-Brown's death, but the department says no criminality is suspected.
Hewett-Brown is not believed to have lived at 131 Broome Street in Manhattan.
The city Buildings Department was investigating the accident. It came after a string of complaints and violation notices over the years about the Broome Street high-rise's three elevators, Buildings Department records show.
[. . .]
They indicate it was inspected as recently as September and that a violation notice concerning the up-and-down lights was unresolved as of Thursday.
'The elevators were a problem and needed to be fixed,' former Tenants Association President Dashia Imperiale told WABC-TV, saying the lifts sometimes lurch up and down. But another resident, Zin Halcomb, told the station he felt the building was well-maintained.
Messages left for the property manager weren't immediately returned Friday.
Meanwhile, a friend of the victim's, Ejiro Omenih, was absorbing the news of his death and the accounts of his life-saving actions.
'I feel that that alone shows his character,' Omenih told WABC-TV.
He said Hewlett-Brown was an aspiring musician who played piano and performed hip-hop and soul.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3382372/Woman-speaks-saved-hero-25-pushed-stalled-Manhattan-elevator-seconds-crushed-death-New-Year-s-Eve.html
Woman speaks out after being saved by selfless man, 25, who pushed her out of stalled Manhattan elevator seconds before he was crushed to death on New Year's Eve
Erude Sanchez, 43, has spoken out to tell the story of the moment her life was saved in a stalled elevator
Hero Stephen Hewett-Brown, 25, shoved Sanchez to safety when it stalled
The broken elevator is thought to have fallen while he was trying to escape
Witness reported the victim shouted 'I can't breathe' as he was crushed
New York Fire Department rescued the man but he sadly died in hospital
By Kelly Mclaughlin and Lydia Willgress For Dailymail.com and Associated Press
Published: 18:44 EST, 2 January 2016 | Updated: 02:24 EST, 3 January 2016
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