A Chinese student stood trial for the murder of an activist lawyer when he said he would stop working with her, stabbing him to death.
Xiaoning Zhang, 25, reportedly stabbed to death Jingjin Li, 66, on Monday in New York City, where he worked as an immigration lawyer.
The murder took place on 39th Avenue near 138th Street in Flushing, Queens at approximately 11:40 a.m., after which Lee was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where he died later that day from wounds to his neck and chest.
Xiaoning Zhang, 25, was taken into custody and charged with murder and possession of a weapon.
Xiaoning Zhang, 25, (pictured in Queens District Court) reportedly stabbed to death Jinjin Li, 66, on Monday in New York City, where he worked as an immigration lawyer.
The murder took place on 39th Avenue near 138th Street in Flushing, Queens at approximately 11:40 a.m. before Lee (pictured) was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where he died of wounds to his neck and chest later that day .
Xiaoning Zhang, 25, is taken to the Queens County Criminal Court, where she is being held after being charged with the murder of lawyer Jim Li.
She is said to have attacked Lee during a previous visit to his office last week after Lee told a student who arrived in Los Angeles on an F1 visa last year that he would not help her apply for asylum.
Zhang is said to have claimed that she was raped by the Beijing police and that her life would be in danger if she was forced to return home.
Chuan Chuan Chen, CEO of the Democratic Party of China, and lawyer Wei Zhu, a friend of Li, said New York Daily News that the murder may have been related to Li’s refusal to take Zhang as a client due to the fact that she may have had mental health issues.
“He even told the police not to arrest her. “She is young. May she have a future.” He was a great man,” Zhu said. “He was an adviser to the free trade union in Tiananmen Square. He was arrested and held in custody for over a year and a half.”
Zhang came to the US in August on an F-1 student visa to attend a school in Los Angeles, Chen told Daily News.
Li was killed in his office in Queens, two days after Zhang made a scene in his law practice and fled the police.
Xiaoning Zhang, 25, in Queens County Criminal Court, where she was charged with the murder of attorney Jim Li.
But she didn’t come. She came right here. She arrived directly and applied for asylum. She claimed that she was raped in Beijing by the police, who sent her to a psychiatric hospital,” he added.
Li’s friends said the lawyer, who rarely dropped a case, was reluctant to help Zhang after she made a scene on Friday while visiting his office. The police were even called to the scene before she fled.
“It must have made her angry. Today, she came with a knife with the intent to kill him,” Zhu said.
NYPD officers were spotted in front of Zhang’s apartment building Monday night as they waited for a search warrant that may have led to a motive for the murder.
“He was one of the best people I ever knew,” Zhu said of Li, who was studying law at Peking University during the Tiananmen Square protests. “If he hadn’t left China, he might have become a famous lawyer, he might have become a judge.”
Li, also called Jim, has been frequently quoted in recent years by news organizations looking for information or commentary about the Chinese dissident community or China-West relations.
She is said to have assaulted Lee (pictured) during a previous visit to his office last week after Lee told a student who arrived in Los Angeles on an F1 visa last year that he would not help her apply for obtaining asylum.
Li was a Tiananmen Square protester in 1989 and was imprisoned just days after the June 4 massacre before seeking asylum to come to the US in 1993.
As an immigration lawyer, he also represented some Chinese expatriates living in the US who were considered fugitives by that country.
Prior to his imprisonment for the protests, Li was the legal adviser for an independent trade union that challenged the Chinese government over workers’ rights.
“I can not believe this. It destroyed not only his life, but also the hope of our society,” Zhu told the newspaper. “He wanted to realize democracy in China. He will never make this dream come true.
Li, whose last Instagram post was in support of the liberation of Ukraine, took part in six weeks of protest movements in Tiananmen Square and on the streets of Beijing in 1989.
Then he worked as a legal adviser in the trade union of the Autonomous Federation of Workers.
He was arrested just days after the June 4 massacre, when hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent demonstrators were killed in and around the square by the Chinese army.
To date, the Chinese Communist Party has not confirmed any exact numbers, and estimates range from hundreds to several thousand, both military and civilian.
As a result of not participating in these protests, Lee was imprisoned for 22 months before moving to the US in 1993 as an asylum seeker.