A 16-year-old male was apprehended and charged with murder on Thursday, over a week after a mother in New York City was tragically killed during a violent robbery in front of her family, according to law enforcement officials. The teenager, whose identity has not been disclosed, faces additional charges of burglary, robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the fatal shooting of Ying Zhu Liu, a 57-year-old home health aide.
The incident occurred in the eighth-floor hallway of Liu’s lower Manhattan residence shortly after 11 p.m. on September 9. Two other young individuals are still being pursued in connection with the crime, according to sources.
Authorities reported that last week, two suspects wearing black ski masks trailed Liu’s 61-year-old husband into their building and into the elevator, where they attempted to rob him. The couple’s son, who was on the eighth floor at the time, witnessed the robbery in progress and tried to intervene. However, he was struck with a pistol by one of the suspects.
Upon hearing the commotion, Liu emerged with a stick to confront the assailants but was shot in the face. The robbers reportedly seized Liu’s husband’s cell phone before fleeing the scene.
Liu’s 32-year-old son, Lin Rong Yan, expressed his grief to the press last week, stating, “It’s all surreal. I feel only sadness right now.”