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Man sentenced in brutal 2022 killing of Manhattan woman in her Chinatown apartment
By
Samantha Max
Published Jul 30, 2024
Modified Jul 30, 2024
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Samantha Max / Gothamist
By
Samantha Max
Published Jul 30, 2024
Modified Jul 30, 2024
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A man who pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing a woman dozens of times in her Manhattan apartment in February 2022 was sentenced on Tuesday to 30 years to life in prison.
Assamad Nash, 27, pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder and first-degree burglary as a sexually motivated felony. Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran said in court that Nash followed Christina Yuna Lee, 35, up six flights of stairs and into her Chinatown apartment as she returned home from a night out with friends around 4:20 a.m. Nash watched her get out of an Uber and sneaked into her building after she walked inside, Yoran said.
Yuna Lee’s murder came amid a surge in pandemic-era attacks against Asian New Yorkers and received widespread media coverage. Nash was not prosecuted on hate crime charges, which require specific evidence that a victim was targeted because of their identity.
Yuna Lee’s family and friends, as well as community members wearing T-shirts denouncing anti-Asian hate, filled the courtroom on Tuesday in Lower Manhattan. Some dabbed their eyes with tissues.
Lee's loved ones told the judge about the pain they have endured since she was killed. Her father, Sungkon Lee, spoke quietly with his shoulders hunched as he asked for the maximum possible sentence.
“Christina deserves no less and the community and the society requires justice,” he said.
On the night of her murder, Yuna Lee realized Nash was behind her once she walked into her apartment, and grabbed a knife to defend herself, Yoran said. The prosecutor added that Yuna Lee slashed Nash as he attempted to rip off her clothes.
Neighbors heard her screaming for help and called 911, but police weren’t able to break down her door until more than an hour later, according to the Manhattan district attorney's office. When police got inside, prosecutors said, they found Yuna Lee in the bathroom with at least 40 stab wounds to her head, neck and torso. Nash was hiding under her mattress.
“My family cannot forgive this,” Yuna Lee’s father said in the courtroom.
Neither Nash nor his attorney made any statements in court. Nash’s attorney also declined to comment when reached by Gothamist on the phone.
It doesn’t bring her back, so it really doesn’t matter.
Yuna Lee’s aunt, Boksun Lee
Yuna Lee’s murder came amid heightened fears about crimes against Asian New Yorkers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, there were 83 reported hate crimes against Asian people, making them the second-most targeted group that year, according to NYPD data. In 2019, the year before the pandemic, there was just one reported hate crime against an Asian person.
The violent stabbing also followed a breakdown in mental health services during the pandemic. It was one of several high-profile cases in which a homeless person with serious mental illness harmed a stranger, sparking debates across the city about how to balance civil liberties and public safety.
Nash was deemed unfit to stand trial last year and was temporarily committed to a psychiatric facility, according to court records. As NYPD detectives escorted him out of a stationhouse after his arrest, he said, “I didn’t kill anyone. I don’t know what’s going on,” the New York Times reported at the time.
At Nash’s sentencing, prosecutors cited Department of Correction medical records that said he has a tendency to sexually assault women, expose himself and masturbate. He prioritizes his own needs, and lacks remorse, according to a suicide progress note from 2023, prosecutor Yoran said.
Court records show Nash was already facing other charges when he killed Yuna Lee, including harassment and attempted assault. When he was arrested the month before Yuna Lee’s death on criminal mischief and other misdemeanor charges, a judge released him under supervision, meaning that he was supposed to check in with officials, according to prosecutors.
Outside the courthouse, Yuna Lee’s father criticized New York’s bail reform laws, which limit when judges can keep someone in jail while they await trial. The measures aimed to minimize the number of people behind bars who have not been convicted of a crime — especially those charged with nonviolent offenses who can’t afford bail.
Yuna Lee’s family has sued the city of New York, arguing that officials failed to address safety concerns in the park near her apartment, which Nash was believed to have frequented. It also argues the NYPD’s delay in breaching the door to her apartment contributed to her death. The city denied most of the family’s allegations in initial court filings.
Yuna Lee’s aunt, Boksun Lee, filed the lawsuit. She held her face in her hands and cried after the sentencing, saying that Nash’s punishment doesn’t mean much to her.
“It doesn’t bring her back, so it really doesn’t matter,” she said.
This story has been updated with new information.
Tagged
public safety
manhattan
Race And Justice Unit
Chinatown
Samantha Max
Samantha reports on whether New Yorkers feel safe and whether the institutions that are supposed to protect them are working. Before coming to WNYC/Gothamist, she spent three years covering the criminal justice system in Tennessee for Nashville Public Radio. Her reporting on Nashville's police department received multiple awards, including the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. Samantha was also part of the inaugural class of Report for America, a service journalism program that sends up-and-coming reporters to local newsrooms across the country. She is a Northwestern University grad, a Baltimore native and fluent in Spanish. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal: samanthamaxwnyc.93.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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