A 16-year-old suspect who killed Ying Zhu Liu in front of her family while robbing her husband at their home has been arrested, authorities say.
Recently, the New York Police Department (NYPD) responded to a home in a Lower Manhattan building just after 11 p.m. after reports of a robbery and shots fired. 16-year-old Dante Schaller was charged with murder, burglary, robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon, according to CBS News.
On Sept. 9, 54-year-old Liu was home with her family when they heard a commotion in their hallway. According to investigators, three young suspects wearing ski masks had followed the 61-year-old victim’s husband into his building elevator and tried to rob him. Upon arrival on the 8th floor where Liu’s family apartment is located, the victim’s son, Lin Rong Yan, 32, who buzzed his father in and had been expecting him, witnessed the robbery in the hallway and tried to help his father, but got pistol whipped instead.
Soon, Liu came out with a stick to help defend her family when one of the suspects shot her in the face before they fled the scene with her husband’s cell phone.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. She worked as a home health aide.
Later, authorities retrieved surveillance video footage from a nearby deli 40 minutes before the fatal incident that captured Schaller and the two other suspects wearing the same clothes they wore during the botched robbery.
A search warrant was issued by the police for the teen’s home on East 167th Street. There, they found the same red hoodie Schaller wore on the day of the incident with a 9mm live round. Authorities also found 9mm shell casings at the crime scene around the stairwell and hallway of Liu’s building.
“It’s all surreal. I feel only sadness right now,” said Lin Rong Yan, reported New York Post.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting can contact the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
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