Suspect nabbed in elderly woman's shoving death

BOSTON — A 24-year-old woman is charged with knocking an elderly woman to the ground on Thursday, fatally fracturing her skull, in an incident witnessed by a crew filming the new “Ghostbusters” movie.

Thursday’s incident began when the woman being held in the incident, Tajanetta Downing, and Yuzhen Lei, 72, bumped into each other in Boston’s Chinatown, police said. Downing pushed Lei once, causing her to fall to the ground, police said.

Downing fled, but was tracked down and identified with the help of a cameraman from the “Ghostbusters’’ crew, prosecutors said.

William Prior, a passerby, told WBZ-TV he was on his way to work when he saw Lei on the sidewalk. He said he didn’t realize she had been knocked to the ground and seriously injured.

“Because it was really hot that morning, I thought she might have fainted,” he said.

Lei was taken to Tufts Medical Center and placed on life support, but died Thursday night. The Suffolk County Medical Examiner will investigate Lei’s death to determine a cause.

Before Lei died, Downing was arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on charges of aggravated assault and battery and assault and battery on a person 60 or older, charges which may be upgraded following Lei’s death, the district attorney’s office said. Judge Myong Joun imposed $75,000 cash bail for the alleged assault, but then revoked Downing’s bail because she faces charges in two earlier unrelated cases in Dorchester, Massachusetts Municipal Court.

Downing is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 5. The district attorney’s office said no additional charges have been filed against her since the elderly woman died, but more charges are possible.

Details for this story were provided Keith Eddings of The Eagle-Tribune. Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.