15-year-old NYC boy dies subway surfing in Manhattan; ‘Bright, smart, caring individual,’ recounts his mom

A 15-year-old boy who died riding atop a Manhattan subway train was autistic and never would have done something so dangerous if others hadn’t dared him, his grieving mother said Friday.

“It’s not something he would do on his own,” said Y’Vonda Maxwell, 53. “He was a kid on the spectrum. He got in on the wrong crowd. He was bullied because he was autistic.”

Ka’Von Wooden was subway surfing on top of a Manhattan-bound J train as it approached the Delancey Street/Essex Street station on the Lower East Side around 11:25 a.m. Thursday, said police.

Ka’Von fell under the train and made contact with the third rail.

When medics arrived, he was unconscious with severe head trauma, cops said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said there were no other children at the scene when Ka’Von fell.

Besides being autistic, Ka’Von had troubles with his legs, said his mother. “His legs gave out in school last week and he had to come home,” she recounted.

Ka’Von was a rail fan, said his brother.

“He was an avid fan of trains — subways, locomotives,” said the brother, who did not give his name. “He was an active part of the train community. He took the trains everywhere. He took them just to explore. Everybody is broken up by this.”

Maxwell wrote a tribute to her son on a GoFundMe page.

“Ka’Von was a bright, smart, charismatic, and caring individual,” she wrote. “He showed a lot of love to the people he cared about, let alone anyone. Shy as he could be, he was a friendly soul.”

In August, 15-year-old Hamza Mohamed lost an arm when he fell while trying to subway surf atop a Forest Hills-bound R train in the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Ave. station, cops said.