Now taxpayers are footing the bill for the self-proclaimed Muslim hater who pushed an innocent man to his death in front of a subway train.
Erika Menendez, 31, was found fit for trial today for a second time.
And she also fired her family-retained attorneys because she distrusts them and chose court-appointed attorney Joseph DeFelice to represent her, booting private attorney Thomas A. Kenniff.
“She indicated she doesn’t want our representation because of distrust with her family,” said Kenniff who attempted to convince Queens Justice Gregory Lasak to allow his firm to stay on the case and “not use tax payer’s money when the family can afford [an attorney].”
“Though she was found fit to stand trial she does suffer from severe psychiatric issues,” charged Kenniff who later offered to work alongside DeFelice.
“Part of the paranoia, psychiatrist say she suffers from, has to do with family,” he continued.
“I just want Joseph DeFelice,” said Menendez in a relaxed tone.
Menendez was collared in December for purposely shoving Sunando Sen, 46, in front of a No. 7 train in Sunnyside because she “knows what Muslims look like,” according to court records.
Sen was not Muslim.
Menendez’s mother and sister uncomfortably sat in the courtroom with their arms folded and legs crossed and shook their heads in disagreement when their help was denied.
The judge thanked Kenniff for his services and continued with indicting Menendez with second-degree murder as a hate crime.
“I don’t have mental illness. I hate my family, I don’t care, I don’t want your medicine, I know what I am doing,” said Assistant District Attorney Peter Lomp as he read from additional statements allegedly from Menendez while she was held at the 112th Precinct.
“I’m prejudiced,” she allegedly told detectives. “I just pushed him in front of the train because I thought it would be cool.”
Cops said she then taunted her victim by sarcastically ordering a lunch of: “Halal lamb, white rice with white sauce — a dash of white sauce.”
During the line up at the 112th precinct Menendez said, “You should turn on the television to NY1 so that they can all see me, they’ll all recognize me.” She went on to say “Why do we have to do this s–t, I already admitted to everything.”
She also said to detectives that while she was visiting “my man” in Brooklyn he saw her on TV and saw the $12,000 reward, and she allegedly asked him, “what they said I did? He said, ‘drop it.'” Menendez continued to tell detectives, “Then we smoked some weed and did each other, then I went to eat at Wendy’s and after that I got stopped by cops.”
When asked by the detectives how she felt about the incidient and if she could relive the day would she do anything different, Menendez said, “Nope, I don’t give a f–k, I don’t live to regret anything, it is what it is.”
DeFelice entered a “not guilty” for Menendez and will submit a bail application at the next court hearing on April 18.