A man was charged Thursday for allegedly killing a married woman and critically injuring her two children in a hammer attack in a shared New York City residence, according to several reports.
Liyong Ye, 47, was charged with murder and two counts each of attempted murder, assault, and criminal possession of a weapon, per the New York Times (NYT). The deceased woman reportedly was named Zhao Zhao and the critically injured children were Zhao’s five-year-old son and three-year-old daughter.
Officers responded to a report of an ongoing assault at about 2:50 p.m. Wednesday. “[T]hey quickly apprehended the subject, who was trying to walk out of the building. He was placed under arrest. As they ascended to the apartment on the second floor, they encountered the three victims, who were seriously injured. And now it appears those injuries were caused by a hammer attack,” New York Police Department (NYPD) Chief of Patrol John Chell said in a video statement that showed the hammer allegedly used in the attack.
“The mother has passed away and the five-year-old son and the three-year-old daughter are fighting for their lives,” Chell added. (RELATED: Man Reportedly Admits To Killing Sister Over An ‘Electric Bill’ Dispute)
Watch live as Chief of Patrol John Chell & NYPD executives brief the media on an incident that occurred in Brooklyn. https://t.co/w2KTZJ09Qk
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) August 23, 2023
Ye “had blood throughout his body” and “there was a language barrier” that prevented any immediate attempt to question Ye before taking him away, Chell noted.
Ye lived in one room with his nine-year-old son, while the victims lived in a second room and another person lived alone in a third room in a cramped three-bedroomed apartment in Brooklyn, according to Chell. Ye and the victims had been in disputes over rent, noise, Wi-Fi use, and the shared kitchen, and blamed the victims for his living conditions, per ABC 7. Ye reportedly had asked the man in the third room to pick up Ye’s son, a move that prosecutors reportedly said indicated the attack was premeditated. Ye’s son reportedly witnessed the attack. The man arrived to find the victims lying in pools of blood in the kitchen area and called police, per the NYT. The victim’s husband reportedly was away at work at the time of the attack.
Chell tagged the attack “horrific and senseless,” adding that “our prayers are with the families at this time,” per the video statement.