An obituary posted by Splice, Cristina's work unit, on social media.
1.
Police announced more details:
The victim was stabbed more than 40 times, and the suspect was charged with first-degree murder
New York police released more details of the murder of a woman in Chinatown in the early hours of Sunday morning (Feb. 15).
Victim Christina Yuna Lee was followed into the apartment by a knife-wielding stranger. She had screamed for help, but it was too late for her cry to be answered.
Prosecutors revealed that the 25-year-old suspect, Assamad Nash, stabbed the 35-year-old victim with more than 40 knives, leaving her half-naked in a pool of blood in the bathroom.
Prosecutors said that when the officers arrived at the apartment, they could still hear Christina shouting for help in the room, but suddenly everything was quiet. A few seconds later, Nash mimicked Ms. Lee's voice, claiming that everything was normal. He then tried to leave the apartment via a fire ladder, but returned to the apartment after seeing a police officer waiting on the roof above him.
Nash was detained after a brief standoff with police at the scene and was later charged with first-degree murder. Last fall, he was arrested three times for misdemeanors, including assaults, illegally swiping subway cards for others and vandalizing subway card vending machines in the subway system, but was eventually released under supervision.
Nash is now in indefinite prison after being arraigned Monday night in New York Criminal Court on murder charges. After Assistant District Attorney Daphne Yolan outlined the horrific details of the heinous crime, judge Jay Weiner, who presided over the diabiography, ordered Nash not to bail.
The motives for Nash's actions are still under investigation, and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office is investigating whether Nash targeted Christina because of her race.
Nash was taken out of the Fifth Station police station.
He is also currently charged with two first-degree theft charges, one of which was described as "sexual motivation."<
Judge Weiner ordered Nash to return to court on Feb. 18. If Nash is convicted of first-degree murder, he faces life in prison without parole.
2.
The reporter visited the scene of the crime
More than 30 hours have passed since Christina was brutally murdered in the bathroom of her Chinatown apartment, and the doors of the apartment building at 111 Kelisti Street are still open, surrounded by cordons and crowds that have refused to disperse for a long time. Many people come here spontaneously, placing white chrysanthemums, yellow roses or a card of condolence on the roots of the old tree in front of the door that has lost its leaves.
Residents present flowers to mourn Christina. I Photo: Immanuel
Uncle Zheng, an 80-year-old Chinese elderly man, was walking out of the apartment door, and he told the New York Chinese Information Network reporter that Christina was a neighbor who lived upstairs, and sometimes met him upstairs, but did not speak. In the early morning of the 13th, he also heard a very terrible scream, which made him still have palpitations.
"I've lived here for over 30 years and feel that the security here has been good, really good, and this is the first time this has happened." Uncle Zheng said. Uncle Zheng and his wife live in a small apartment on the 5th floor, the apartment is very simple and old, there is only one bedroom, a kitchen and a bathroom. He said that the rent here is also very cheap, because he has a preferential policy for a long time, he only needs to spend a few hundred yuan rent, and in recent years, the new tenants will spend a little more, but according to his understanding, it is about one or two thousand yuan a month, and the apartment type in the building is basically the same. "In the past, all the people who lived in Chinese, but there have been a few foreigners in recent years."
Christina, 35, moved here from New Jersey less than a year ago, becoming one of the few "foreigners", but because she is an Asian face, Uncle Zheng did not know that she was originally Korean rather than Chinese today.
The corridors with black and pink floor tiles and the old brown wooden staircase in the apartment are very narrow, and two people need to give way to each other when they walk face to face, and each staircase is also very short, zigzaging up from the middle of the building, and there is no wall in the middle, only low wooden handrails. Each floor has only four rooms, spread over four corners at the end of the corridor, facing each other. Because the corridor is very narrow, the doors of the two adjacent rooms are also particularly close, and they are pressed together in a cramped corner.
Interior of the apartment. I Photo: Immanuel
The door of Room 20, where Christina once lived, was hidden, a large triangular hole had been broken in the door panel, the lock had been broken, there were traces of various hard objects hitting the door, there was a white cordon hanging from the door, and the room looked chaotic, and there were many clutter piles on the floor, only the books on her bookshelf were still neatly arranged. A policeman sat on a wooden stool in the doorway, saw someone approaching, and got up to signal not to come in, and the investigation at the scene of the crime was still not completed.
Apartment rented by Christina. I Photo: Immanuel
3.
People have called on the government to take community safety seriously
The mayor hit a wall in the state legislature
In Hester Park, not far from the old apartment building, two press conferences have been held in less than 24 hours, the previous one organized by state Rep. Niu Yulin at 3 p.m. on the day of the crime, with numerous elected officials present. The latter session, organized by the community-based organization East Broadway Committee, was held on February 14 at 10 a.m. with more community members and community leaders.
Multiple speakers at both press conferences focused on the runaway homelessness problem and the failed shelter operating system, and even angrily opposed the project to renovate a homeless shelter in 91 East Broadway in Manhattan. Manhattan Mayor Mark Levine was the only elected official to be present for both days, and Elaine Fan, director of Asian-Pacific descent in New York Governor's Office, was also present to speak on behalf of the governor to express concern.
In addition, three Asian victims or their families who had been randomly attacked by homeless people also came to the scene, calling on the government to pay attention to community safety, take practical actions to solve the problem, and restore tranquility to Chinatown. And many media reporters and community members are asking each other: "Why didn't the mayor come?" "He just tweeted?" "Didn't he send someone either?" After confirming the disappointing results, an English-language media reporter said: "I think he should come, why didn't he come?" ”
The families of the victims have come forward to say that the community's call for "new accounts and old accounts are calculated together" to solve the problem of homelessness. I Photo: Immanuel
Later on the 14th, an official in the mayor's office told the New York Chinese Information Network reporter that the mayor was still in albany, the state capital, and he could not come, but he knew about it.
According to the reporter's understanding, at the same time that the Asian community held a rally in Chinatown on the morning of the 14th, New York City Mayor Eric Adams was also holding a press conference in Albany, regrettably announcing to people that his efforts to promote state legislative reform had failed.
Adams argues that some laws supported by some Democrats have drastically reduced the use of monetary bail for nonviolent crimes and stipulated that only people 18 and older can be criminally prosecuted in New York, which is one reason for the city's rising crime rate. Adams himself proposed an ambitious plan to fight crime and tried to persuade the state legislature to repeal or amend the bail law and the law that was 18 years of age or older to be held criminally responsible, but he failed to get the support of the state legislature.
In fact, Nash, who brutalized Christina, was a beneficiary of the law — he was released without bail after being arrested last year for assaulting subway passengers. Some defenders of the law argue that it is giving privilege to those who can afford to pay bail, and that the law needs to uphold equality; while others who oppose it argue that it is reducing the cost of crime and even encouraging it.
Speaking at a news conference in Albany, Adams said: "Although I have not been able to get here what I want, a very important part of my blueprint for reform, I will not turn around and say that there is nothing I can do." I'm the mayor of New York, and it's my responsibility to keep New Yorkers safe, and I won't shirk my responsibility. If I don't get support here, then I'll look elsewhere. ”
Source: New York Chinese Information Network
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