Marshall had been at the hospital for a bowel obstruction and is said to have innocently grabbed a metal stand that was near a bed that Lundy – a seizure patient – was sitting in at around 2pm.

Janie Marshall, 86, died less than four hours after she was allegedly assaulted by 32-year-old Cassandra Lundy at the Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood on Saturday

Both Marshall and Lundy were patients at the hospital when the altercation took place, authorities explained to the New York Daily News on Sunday.

The death marks the first corona-related homicide in the city – the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States.

Janie Marshall, 86, died less than four hours after she was allegedly assaulted by 32-year-old Cassandra Lundy at the Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood on Saturday.

An elderly New York woman has died after she was assaulted by a stranger at a local hospital who claimed she was not practicing social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.

Lundy is said to have attacked Marshall, complaining that the woman was not following social distancing guidelines. It was then that the woman hit Marshall in the head. Marshall died at 5.40pm.

While a portion of the confrontation was caught on video, no one witnessed the entire attack. Lundy was released by hospital police after she was issued a disorderly conduct summons for the attack.

The hospital failed to contact the NYPD until almost five hours after the woman had died, according to sources.

Authorities are waiting on Marshall’s autopsy to determine whether to upgrade the charges against Lundy.

Lundy has been arrested 17 times previously for charges that included drug possession, trespass, assault and strangulation.

NYC Health and Hospitals, which runs the Brooklyn facility, said it was ‘saddened’ by the death.

The death marks the first corona-related homicide in the city that has been the most impacted by the virus in the United States

‘We are committed to ensuring a safe, health-focused environment in these very demanding times so our heroic health care workers can continue to deliver the quality, compassionate care New Yorkers need more than ever,’ they added in a statement.

‘We are collaborating with the NYPD in their investigation.’

People who knew Marshall were shocked by the news.

‘It’s sad,’ said Dealice Fuller, who chairs Brooklyn’s Community Board 1. ‘Something like that happens and you’d like the world to know that somebody contributed something.’

Marshall played a key role in establishing the Sunshine Community Garden in the area back in 1991

Fuller said Marshall played a key role in establishing the Sunshine Community Garden in the area back in 1991.

‘She was able to get all the information and she came to me and she asked me to help get people to join the garden,’ Fuller said. ‘We were basically one of the first gardens in the district.’

Eartha Calloway, an 87-year-old neighbor of Marshall’s, was devastated by the news.

‘We would just meet in the hall and laugh and talk,’ said Calloway. ‘She came from down South like I did and we used to laugh about it, about the heat down there and how we used to wash clothes outdoors, funny things.

‘It just goes to show, you never know. You don’t ever know what’s going to happen to you. You could be walking down the hall and someone hits you in the hospital.’