A man pleaded guilty in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday to killing a 35-year old woman in her Chinatown apartment in 2022 in an episode that intensified fears over anti-Asian attacks.
The man, Assamad Nash, 27, whose last address was a homeless shelter on the Bowery, admitted killing Christina Yuna Lee after following her into her apartment, where prosecutors say he attempted to sexually assault her. Mr. Nash pleaded guilty to one count each of second degree murder and sexually motivated burglary.
He is to be sentenced on July 30 to 30 years to life in prison.
“Assamad Nash was held accountable for senselessly taking Christina Yuna Lee’s life,” Alvin L. Bragg, Manhattan’s district attorney, said in a statement Tuesday. “My thoughts are with her family and our community as they continue healing from this tragedy.”
Mr. Nash’s lawyer, Michael Francis Gompers, could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday.
In the early morning of Feb. 13, 2022, Mr. Nash followed Ms. Lee into her apartment building on Chrystie Street, forced himself into her home and tried to sexually assault her, according to prosecutors.
Ms. Lee’s neighbors, hearing her cries from her sixth-floor apartment, called 911. When officers arrived a few minutes later, they heard her screams, but were unable to enter the locked door, prosectors said.
When police managed to break into the apartment more than an hour later, they discovered Ms. Lee dead in her bathtub with more than 40 stab wounds. The police also found Mr. Nash hiding under her bed and the knife believed to be the murder weapon hidden behind the dresser.
At a court appearance in November 2022, Mr. Nash was ordered to undergo a mental evaluation, and the following June he was found unfit to stand trial. He was transferred from the Rikers Island jail complex and sent to a state mental-health facility until this February. That month, he was deemed fit for trial and was transferred back to Rikers.
Last year, Ms. Lee’s aunt Boksun Lee filed a suit on behalf of the victim’s estate against the city and the Police Department, saying that officers’ failure to gain entrance to the apartment swiftly had led to Ms. Lee’s death. The city denied the claims and said the department was immune from legal action in the matter.
Ms. Lee had graduated from Rutgers University in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in art history. She worked as a creative producer for an online music platform in New York City.
Authorities were not able to determine whether her killing was motivated by her ethnicity, but her death sent shock waves through New York’s Asian community at a time when many were already fearful after a rise in attacks during the pandemic.
Ms. Lee’s death occurred at a time when anti-Asian violence was surging. In January 2022, one month before Ms. Lee’s killing, Michelle Go, 40, was pushed to her death in front of a subway train in Times Square. By mid-March of that year, the number of anti-Asian hate crimes recorded by the Police Department was double that of the same period the year before.
The killing also alarmed residents in other neighborhoods, many of whom expressed growing concern during the pandemic about homeless people, including some who appeared to be mentally ill, menacing residents on the street.
Homeless people suffering from severe mental illness have been charged in several high-profile attacks in New York City in the past five years, even though such attacks are relatively rare. A 2023 New York Times investigation identified more than 130 acts of violence carried out in recent years by people who were homeless and mentally ill.
Mr. Nash had a string of arrests dating to 2015 in New York and New Jersey on charges including assault, burglary and drug possession.
On Tuesday, Jo-Ann Yoo, the executive director of the Asian American Federation, said her organization would work to honor Ms. Lee’s memory.
“This tragedy continues to resonate with the Asian community and all New Yorkers who remember this remarkable young woman,” she said, adding, “We pledge to honor Christina by continuing our advocacy to fight for mental wellness.”
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