John Jefferson
Top inset: Christopher Foster (WBFF). Bottom inset: Joseph White (Baltimore Police Department). Background: The subway station where Foster was killed (WBFF).
A Maryland man was sentenced this week for pushing another man off a Baltimore subway platform and onto the electrified third rail of the tracks, electrocuting him.
Joseph White, 41, learned his fate on Thursday in the death of Christopher Foster, 28, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan J. Bates announced in a press release. White was found guilty of second-degree murder and given the maximum penalty of 40 years in prison.
“This horrific and shocking act demands the absolute severest consequences,” said Bates. “In a callous act of violence, the defendant pushed the victim not once, but twice, ensuring that he tragically fell from the subway station platform to his death. It is unfathomable to consider the anguish of a family awaiting a loved one who will never return due to such senseless brutality. My heart goes out to Mr. Foster’s family as they navigate this profound and unbearable loss.”
Foster was killed on April 12, 2023. That day, Baltimore police homicide detectives were called to the Shot Tower subway station at 729 E. Baltimore Street for a person on the tracks.
There, detectives quickly determined Foster had been pushed onto the tracks and electrocuted. Police said the victim had been standing near the edge of the platform when a man pushed him from behind, causing him to fall onto tracks before the assailant fled.
Before an arrest had been made, the victim’s mother, Carole Fields, spoke out, filled with rage.
“I was so angry that someone played God with my son’s life,” she said, local Fox affiliate WBFF reported. “I want to see that person be caught and be accountable for his actions. I want to see him pay for what he did.”
Investigators linked White to the crime after seeing video footage showing him pushing the victim twice, causing him to fall onto the tracks and make contact with the third rail, prosecutors said.
The following month, police caught up with White at a hotel in New York City, according to the Baltimore Police Department.
At trial he testified about an argument before the push.
“I don’t remember a second push,” White told the jury, Baltimore Witness reported. “I’m feeling so much panic and fear [that] I reacted.”
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