Jeffrey Babbitt Update: NYC man dies after random, possibly racially motivated, attack Jeffrey Babbitt (CBS) NEW YORK - A 62-year-old man died Monday after being attacked by complete stranger last week in Union Square in New York City, CBS New York reports. Jeffrey Babbitt slipped into a coma and had been declared brain dead at Bellevue Hospital after he was allegedly beat by 31-year-old Lashawn Marten last week. Babbitt, a retired train conductor, was reportedly walking in Union Square around 3 p.m. Wednesday when Marten allegedly shouted a racial comment and began attacking people. "He said 'the next white person who walks by I'm going to [expletive],'" one female witness told CBS New York. Witnesses said Marten then hit two more people before demanding to see police officers. He remained at the scene until police arrived. Marten already faces felony assault charges. Babbitt shared a Sheepshead Bay apartment with his 92-year-old mother.