What you should know
- A woman was brutally murdered in her Chinatown apartment early Sunday morning, and a man who already had several open court cases is in custody in her death.
- Christina Yuna Lee had just gotten home from going out on Saturday night. The 35-year-old woman was dropped off at her building on the 100 block of Chrystie Street and she had no idea someone was following her.
- Three law enforcement sources said officers detained the suspect, Assamad Nash, right there at the scene of the crime. Nash was covered in blood after he allegedly stabbed Lee multiple times.
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The owner of the place where a New York City woman lived, who was brutally murdered on sundaynoted that the alleged killer “mercilessly hounded” his victim up six flights of stairs before quietly entering his Chinatown apartment.
Christina Yuna Lee had just gotten home from going out on Saturday night. The 35-year-old woman was dropped off at her building on the 100 block of Chrystie Street and she had no idea someone was following her.
“She opened the door and he walked in right behind her. She didn’t even know he was there,” Lee’s owner Brian Chin said. “She climbed six flights of stairs and this man harassed her mercilessly.”
Lee’s scream rips through the building shortly after 4:00 am on Sunday. Two young women who live across the hall called 9-1-1 and officers arrived within minutes. When they arrived, the door was locked. Staff from the Emergency Services Unit had to break down the steel door and found Lee’s body in the bathroom.
Three law enforcement sources said officers detained the suspect, Assamad Nash, right there at the scene of the crime. Nash was covered in blood after he allegedly stabbed Lee multiple times.
The suspect was taken to the hospital for evaluation and charges against him are still pending. Law enforcement sources initially said it did not appear to be a hate crime, adding on Monday that it was being investigated as an unprovoked shoving attack.
Officials familiar with the case also said Nash had five prior felonies and three pending court cases on various issues. She is believed to have recently lived in a homeless shelter in The Bowery.
“He was a wonderful soul, a wonderful person. He had the rest of his life ahead of him,” Chin Lee recalled.
“This is about the community and our elected officials need to do something very different because all of this is preventable,” he added.
Mayor Eric Adams issued a statement Sunday afternoon pledging once again to crack down on the sharp rise in violence in the city.
“I and New Yorkers across the city mourn the innocent woman murdered in her home last night in Chinatown and stand with our Asian brothers and sisters today,” he said in a statement.
Year to date through February 6, serious crime is up 42% in New York City compared to the same period last year. Murder is actually the only category in the index that has gone down year over year.
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