The suspect charged with pushing a 76-year-old retired teacher to his death down a flight of Manhattan subway stairs used to be a successful Broadway dancer.
Rhamell Burke, 32, appeared in productions including “King Kong,” the Internet Broadway Database shows, where he is credited as Rhaamell Burke-Missouri.
Burke was smiling widely when he was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court Saturday on murder charges for allegedly shoving Ross Falzone down the flight of stairs at the 18th St. subway station in Chelsea.
Burke was released from a psychiatric E.R. at Bellevue Hospital only hours before the 9:30 p.m. Thursday attack and has been in and out of jail numerous times, prosecutors said.
Before his social media posts abruptly stopped in early 2024, Burke posted photos of himself at the gym, on red carpets and posing with celebrities, including actress Patricia Clarkson, who hugs him tightly in a photograph from 2021. “King Kong” ran at Broadway Theater from Nov. 8, 2018 to August 18, 2019.
He spoke about his struggles with his mental health on his Instagram. “Hearing those negatives, I’ve allowed myself to slip numerous times,” he wrote in 2021. “That’s my brain trying to keep me down in the dumps to keep me from feeling the true feelings of gratitude.”
Falzone struck his head on a step halfway down the stairs and suffered a massive brain injury. He died at Bellevue Hospital early Friday.
Six hours before he allegedly attacked Falzone, Burke was recorded outside the 17th Precinct stationhouse on E. 51st St. holding a stick he had pulled out of a garbage can. Body-worn camera footage shows Burke talking with the cop for about three seconds before he dropped the stick, police said.
Officers brought him to Bellevue at 3:39 p.m., where he underwent a quick psychiatric evaluation and was released from the hospital at 4:39 p.m. — just an hour later.
Mayor Mamdani opened an investigation on Friday into why Burke had been released from Bellevue so quickly.
“I am horrified by the killing of Ross Falzone and the circumstances that led to it. I extend my condolences to his loved ones,” Mamdani said. “New Yorkers deserve answers. That is why I’ve directed NYC Health + Hospitals to conduct both an immediate investigation on what steps should have been taken to prevent this tragedy and a comprehensive review of their psychiatric evaluation and discharge protocols.”