Woman is followed home after a night out and fatally stabbed inside her New York City apartment
PICTURE EXCLUSIVE: Advertising creative, 35, fatally stabbed by career criminal, 25, free on bail who sneaked into her NYC apartment building behind her: Landlord blames DA Alvin Bragg’s woke policies for her death
Christina Yuna Lee, 35, was found dead Sunday in the blood-soaked bathtub of her Chinatown apartment in New York’s Lower East SideAssamad Nash, 25, a homeless career criminal out on bail for a previous assault case, was arrested on Sunday for her murder It’s believed Nash followed Lee into her building after she got out of a cab, before silently following her to her third floor home Nash was still in the apartment when police arrived and was found hiding underneath a bed, covered in bloodNash has three open cases, including an alleged attack on a subway straphanger deemed insufficiently serious to hold him in custody It’s not clear, however, whether she knew her attacker Lee’s landlord, Brian Chin, said Nash should have been in jail and blamed the policies of DA Alvin BraggBragg has faced harsh criticism for his soft-on-crime approach during his first month in office‘Our elected officials need to do something much different,’ Chin said A motive for the stabbing is also unknown at this time, law enforcement saidChin described Lee as a ‘wonderful human being’ whose ‘smile lit up the room’
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A 35-year-old Asian advertising creative was knifed to death by a homeless serial criminal who was free on bail – with the victim’s landlord blaming woke NYC DA Alvin Bragg’s soft-on-crime policies for the killing.
Christina Yuna Lee was named as the victim of the Sunday morning stabbing in Manhattan’s Chinatown. She was a freelance advertising creative from New Jersey who has spearheaded campaigns for brands including Equinox and Google.
Assamad Nash, 25, was arrested for the Sunday morning murder of Lee. Terrifying footage showed the man police say is him creep into the building behind Lee after she got out of a cab.
She entered the building, but didn’t realize that Nash – who did not appear to know his alleged victim – had sneaked in behind her after watching her exit a taxi, and was following her up six flights of stairs to her home.
Nash, a homeless career criminal, had been out on bail following several outstanding offenses, including an assault case in September and criminal mischief arrest in early January. He was due in court on March 3.
‘This all could have been avoided,’ Lee’s landlord, Brian Chin, told reporters Sunday night. ‘This guy should never have been out of the street. And it’s DA Alvin Bragg playing politics with people’s lives and the Asian community has been hurt. To have a DA who has won those horrific crimes right on his doorstep. And he doesn’t even bother to show up. It’s disgraceful.’
It is unclear if Nash knew Lee, but according to New York Daily News, investigators recovered surveillance video that shows the suspect following Lee into her building after she was dropped off by a cab.
Christina Yuna Lee, 35, was stabbed to death in her New York City apartment ‘by homeless serial criminal.’ Assamad Nash, 25, has been arrested for her murder after she was found dead in the blood-soaked bathtub of her Chinatown apartment
‘He followed her up all six flights. And she never even knew that he was there,’ Chin said. ‘She walked up six flights of stairs and this man mercilessly stalked her. This was not a crime of mental illness or anything. He stayed one floor below and watched her go up those stairs. And then he moved methodically one flight up at a time. He was absolutely in full control.’
Nash had three open cases at the time of the murder, as well as a record of escaping from police custody.
Prior allegations against Nash include an attack on a subway straphanger last September, but that alleged assault was deemed insufficiently serious to hold him in custody pending trial, thanks to New York’s woke bail reform laws aimed at lowering the state’s jail population.
‘Our elected officials need to do something much different,’ Chin said.
‘My grandparents are Chinese immigrants that came here trying to build themselves up,’ he added. ‘We built up this community and it’s just getting torn down so fast by one district attorney. It’s heart wrenching.’
Chin said Nash should have been in jail and blamed the policies of Bragg, who has faced harsh criticism for his soft-on-crime approach during his first month in office.
‘This is just so horrific on so many levels,’ Chin said. ‘She did not do anything wrong. She did not deserve this.’
‘If this guy got away, I can’t even imagine what would happen,’ he added.
Brian Chin, the landlord of the building , said there are cameras on every floor, and that his family has installed steel doors on all the apartments. It took cops more than 10 minutes to get into the apartment after the assailant locked himself inside
Assamad Nash, 25, has been accused of murdering an Asian-American woman in her Chinatown apartment while on bail for a prior assault
Chilling footage shows the murderer, named as Nash, follow victim Christina Yuna Lee through the hallway of her Chinatown apartment building
Nash is said to have followed Yuna Lee in after she exited a cab, then forgot to check the door had shut behind her
Yuna was found knifed in her bathtub, and couldn’t be saved, with Nash also said to have been discovered hiding under his alleged victims’ bed
Nash is pictured being arrested following Sunday’s stabbing at victim Christina Yuna Lee’s apartment
The 35-year-old woman could be seen on surveillance video walking into her home at 111 Chrystie Street early on Sunday morning
NYPD officers responded to the building on Chrystie Street near Grand Street in Manhattan’s Lower East Street around 4:20 a.m. after neighbors reported hearing a woman’s piercing cries for help.
Lee’s apartment door was barricaded shut and when police made their way inside, the woman was found in her bathtub ‘bleeding from multiple wounds to the body’.
FDNY medics pronounced Lee dead at 5:55 a.m.
Nash was still in the apartment when police arrived and was found hiding underneath a bed, covered in blood.
Nash is known to police as a homeless career criminal and who has escaped from police custody several times.
He was arrested for attacking a woman in May 2021, but that case was sealed, the Post reported. But he was allowed to remain on bail despite skipping a court hearing for the September subway attack at Grand Central Station.
That decision is now set to face close scrutiny in the wake of Lee’s murder.
Her landlord, Chin, told reporters that building has cameras on every floor, and that his family had installed steel doors on all the apartments.
‘We have such tight security in this building we have steel doors,’ Chin said. ‘It took a swat team over 10 minutes to gain access. These doors are designed to keep monsters out.’
But the suspect still found his way in.
‘She got out of a cab right here and he followed her,’ Chin said. ‘He grabbed the front door just before it closed. He followed her all the way up, hanging back, staying one floor behind her all the way up to the sixth floor. Then, he waited until her door was just about closed and he went in.’
Chin described Lee as a ‘wonderful human being’ whose ‘smile lit up the room.’
‘She came to the city for the lure of New York, you know, like the Big Apple, the big city, you know, boundless opportunities,’ he said.
According to Lee’s website and LinkedIn page, she’s a New York-based creative producer dealing in national-scale marketing content for select names like Google, Twix, Equinox, TOMS, Cole Haan and ALDO.
New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul tweeted about the senseless stabbing that lead to the death of a 35-year-old woman
‘So much blood. My wife said I should call someone to clean all the blood but I’m going to clean it up myself. It’s the least I can do for that poor girl,’ the building’s owner said.
‘She’s from New Jersey, been here less than a year,’ Chin told The Post. ‘Such a sweet girl.
Another neighbor, Zyana Salazar, 27, told DailyMail.com: ‘I just feel like he shouldn’t been out on.
‘He was been let out with no bail. Oh, why was he let out with no bail three times If that’s true, then why was he let out no bail. You know, this is why that happened.’
‘I’m mourning this tragic & heartbreaking loss of life,’ New York Governor Kathy Hochul tweeted.
‘We have seen far too many acts of violence against AAPI New Yorkers in recent months. We must make sure every community is safe in our state.
‘I join New Yorkers standing together in support of our AAPI friends & neighbors.’
New York Mayor Eric Adams similarly condemned the murder.
‘I and New Yorkers across the city mourn for the innocent woman murdered in her home last night in Chinatown and stand with our Asian brothers and sisters today,’ Adams said in a statement on Sunday.
‘The NYPD is investigating this horrific incident, and I thank them for apprehending the suspect. While the suspect who committed this heinous act is now in custody, the conditions that created him remain. The mission of this administration is clear: We won’t let this violence go unchecked.’
Crime in the city has continued to spike, with overall crime having increased 41.65 percent, robbery up nearly 35 percent, and violent felonies up 13.3 percent through February 6 from the same time last year.
Meanwhile, nearly every police precinct in New York City has reported spikes in crime this year – including five in which the rate has doubled, new data from the New York Police Department shows.
‘No neighborhood is safe,’ one Brooklyn cop told The New York Post on Tuesday, offering a grim forecast for the future of the crime-ravaged city.
‘At this rate, we will lose the city by St. Patrick’s Day.’
According to recently released statistics, 72 of the five boroughs’ 77 precincts saw an increase in crime this year when compared to the same period in 2021, with only three recording a marginal decrease in criminal offenses.
Two precincts, including the one covering the city’s scenic Central Park, recorded no change at all – a statistic that may be misleading due to the area’s low crime rate when compared to areas that are actually populated.
Crime in New York is up over 41 percent compared to last year, with transit incidents up 74 percent compared to this time in 2021
Nearly every single police precinct in New York City has seen spikes in crime so far this year – including five in which the rate has doubled, new data from the NYPD shows
An off-duty officer was shot Sunday in West Harlem’s 26th precinct – one of the police designated areas that has seen crime more than double this year
‘Only the squirrels are safe,’ another anonymous cop joked to The Post. ‘Tourists will never come back.’
Since Mayor Eric Adams unveiled his ‘Blueprint to End Gun Violence’ on January 24, at least 49 people have been shot in The City That Never Sleeps, and at least 12 have been murdered.
Violent crime in general has surged in the city over the past year, with many different factors including increased tensions between the police and public, unemployment rates, soft-on-crime politicians and bail reform being cited as potential causes.
According to the recently released crime data – which takes into account offenses occurring up until the week ending on February 6 – robberies have soared by almost 35 percent when compared to the same period in 2021.
Rape has also increased by more than 35 percent and overall crime in the Big Apple has skyrocketed by 41.65 percent, according to the data.
Murders, meanwhile, are down 13 percent at this time over last year, while shootings have increased by a startling 30 percent.
The new NYPD CompStat numbers show that five precincts saw overall crime double since the start of the year, in neighborhoods in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn.
West Harlem’s 26th Precinct recorded a 122 percent increase in overall crime, primarily driven by rising rates of burglaries, grand larceny, and assaults.
The Manhattan precinct has seen burglaries skyrocket to 30 so far this year compared to just seven for the same period in 2021 – an increase of more than 400 percent – while grand larcenies and felony assaults nearly doubled from 15 to 29 and eight to 15, respectively.
