A homeless man convicted of ambushing a city worker with a hammer at a Queens subway station was given the maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison Thursday after being confronted by his victim in court.
William Blount, 61, received the longest sentence allowable by law for the unprovoked 2022 attack on Nina Rothschild, who was left with a cracked skull after she was struck with the hammer more than a dozen times.
“It’s horrible that a human being can act like this toward another human being with such brutality and such depravity,” Judge John Zoll said in Queens Criminal Supreme Court. “I’m not sure if I’ve ever imposed the maximum sentence. Unfortunately, here, that is the appropriate sentence.”
Rothschild, also 61, struggled for years to recover as she wrestled with one burning question, she told Blount in court Thursday: “Why me?
“Why on earth did you come up behind me, fracture my skull multiple times with a hammer and then grab my bag?,” Rothschild asked Blount in court before the judge laid out his sentence.
”Why me? What did I ever do to you? I’m not a lawyer but I’m quite certain you would face a lesser punishment if you had simply robbed me than you now do for having viciously assaulted me.”
Rothschild, a research scientist for the city’s Department of Mental Health and Hygiene, was clobbered with the hammer as she walked down the stairs to enter the Queens Plaza station on Feb. 24, 2022.
Rothschild thanked first responders who rushed to her aid immediately following the attack and everyone involved in Blount’s arrest and conviction.
Doctors said it took a team of specialists and Rothschild’s determined resolve and positive attitude to get her back on her feet.
“I have titanium mesh in my skull where it could not be fully repaired,” she said. “If I hadn’t received such marvelous care and hadn’t had such a strong will to live, this could have been a murder trial.”
But the biggest testament to how far she has progressed from that ugly awful day is her decision to ride the subway again.
“I take the subway every day to work,” Rothschild proudly told reporters after the hearing. “I take the bus every day from work. There’s sometimes some strange people on the bus but you are above ground. You can always get off (early). In fact, I did recently — and it literally drops me off in front of my door in Forest Hills.”
She was pleased with the lengthy sentence and said his age did not make her more sympathetic and that she does not think Blount can be rehabilitated
“Mr. Blount will be in prison until probably what will be the end of his life,” Rothschild said. “He is 61 now and 25 years from now is a very long time.”
As for her own health, Rothschild said she is coming along.
“My mental health is, I think, pretty good,” she said.
“I do think about it. It crosses my mind at least once per day, every day, but I do not have recurring nightmares. When I think about that period in my life, the immediate aftermath and recovery, through the hospital stage, two-and-a-half weeks off from work, I remember it as a time when i mentally regrouped and prepared to reengage with the world. I am incredibly grateful for all the support I received from friends, family colleagues, physicians, everybody else.”
Blount, who appeared wearing a white button-down shirt and tie, his hands shackled in front of him, his bulging gut and beige tie spilling over his beige pants, appeared impassive and refused to meet his victim’s gaze as Rothschild addressed him personally.
Blount declined to address the court.
In video of the attack, Rothschild appears to be cold and tired as she descends into the subway on her way home from work that night. Blount can be seen circling the victim before kicking her from behind.
When Rothschild doesn’t fall, Blount kicks her a second time and she tumbles down the stairway. Video then shows Blount striking Rothschild 13 times in the head with the hammer before fleeing with her bag.
“This was an unprovoked attack that caught the attention of the entire country,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said Thursday. ” thank the survivor for testifying during this trial and bravely facing her attacker in court. Our transit system must be safe for everyone and this conviction sends a strong message that those who cause mayhem on our subways will be brought to justice.”
