Peter Zisopoulos, Suspect In Astoria EMS Murder, Is Arraigned In Court

ASTORIA, QUEENS — The man accused of randomly killing a veteran emergency worker on an Astoria street last week was indicted Thursday on murder charges, appearing virtually in court from the hospital.

Peter Zisopoulos, 34, pleaded not guilty to murder and criminal weapon possession Thursday morning, calling in from Bellevue Hospital.

Authorities accuse him of randomly attacking 61-year-old EMS Lieutenant Alison Russo-Elling on Sept. 29 near the corner of 20th Avenue and 41st Street, steps from her workplace at Astoria's EMS Station 49. She died at a nearby hospital.

After a defense attorney requested a psychological examination, saying Zisopoulos did not understand the charges against him, Queens Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant set Zisopoulos's next court date for Nov. 29, pending the exam.

The unprovoked attack unfolded after 2 p.m., as Russo-Elling walked down 20th Avenue. Zisopoulos took a knife out of his pocket, approached her, and "attacked her without provocation" — continuing to stab Russo-Elling more than a dozen times after she fell to the ground, according to prosecutors.

Zisopoulos lives on 41st Street, about a block away from the scene of the attack, according to police. After the stabbing, he fled the scene and ran into his third-floor apartment, before later being coaxed out by police, authorities say.

"FDNY EMS Captain Alison Russo-Elling spent her 25-year career helping others in their time of need," Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. "Now, her family mourns her passing because, as alleged, the defendant brutally stabbed Ms. Russo-Elling to death near her workstation in Astoria."

The Queens courtroom was packed with "dozens of steely-eyed emergency medical technicians and paramedics" who watched Thursday's arraignment, according to the Daily News.

Zisopoulos had never been arrested before last week, an NYPD spokesperson said — though the Daily News reported that he had been hospitalized in 2018 after cursing at Asian people on the street. Relatives say Zisopoulos is schizophrenic, according to the newspaper.

If convicted, he faces up to 25 years to life in prison, prosecutors say.

The arraignment came one day after Russo-Elling was memorialized in a funeral service not far from her Long Island home.

During the service, which featured remarks from relatives, Mayor Eric Adams, and Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, Russo-Elling's daughter urged mourners not to hold onto bitterness.

"Any hate in your heart created from this sudden calamity, I need you to remove that. I need you to replace it with love," she said.

"Do not let your thoughts be clouded by this act of sudden trauma," she added. "You need to replace it with honoring my mother for the hero that she was — hero that she is."

Related coverage:

• Slain Astoria EMT Alison Russo-Elling Is Memorialized As 'A Hero'
  
• Suspect In Murder Of Astoria EMT Identified As Local Man: Police
• Astoria EMS Lieutenant Randomly Stabbed To Death On The Job: Police