Betty Sugiyama, 84

Died Nov. 14, 2010

Betty Sugiyama, an 84-year-old Asian woman, died Sunday, Nov. 14, in the 200 block of North Alameda Street in Downtown, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Sugiyama was standing on the platform at the Metro Gold Line station on Sunday morning when a woman pushed her off and she fell onto the tracks, police said.

Her sister, Mary, also in her 80s, said they had planned a day of shopping and were rushing to catch a train at the time of the attack. "I didn't think we could make it," Mary said. "But we decided to try."

She said they were almost there when she spotted a heavyset woman, dressed entirely in black, sitting alone on a bench near the tracks. As the sisters passed, the woman suddenly leaped to her feet and shouted, then extended both arms and shoved Betty onto the tracks, police said.

Mary said she heard her sister's skull crack and that the woman in black sat down on the bench after the incident.

Hours later, Betty died of her injuries at a nearby hospital, officials said. Homicide detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department are still investigating the attack, but they said they have not been able to determine a motive to explain why the woman allegedly lashed out without being provoked. Authorities said they discovered Jackkqueline Pogue, 44, still on the platform. She was booked on charges of attempted murder, with bail set at $1 million.

Pogue is being held at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood.

[For the record at 9:59 a.m., Nov. 16: An earlier version of this post, based on information from the coroner's office, gave the victim's last name as Sugiyana and her age as 86. The coroner later corrected both.]

— Robert Faturechi and Sarah Ardalani