On May 22nd, in the case of hired killings in Flushing, two Chinese defendants, 56-year-old Qing Ming Yu (Qing Ming Yu, phonetic translation) and 36-year-old Zhe Zhang, were both sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. The court also ordered the two defendants to pay a total of 1.035 million dollars in compensation to the victim’s family.
Qing Ming Yu and Zhe Zhang were accused of hiring a hitman to gun down 31-year-old Xin Gu outside a karaoke bar in Queens on February 12, 2019. After a two-week trial in October 2023, a federal jury in the Eastern District of New York found the defendants guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and murder for hire. The African American gunman Antony Abreu was convicted in April this year after a two-week trial and is awaiting sentencing.
Both Chinese defendants had pleaded not guilty all along and remained silent before sentencing yesterday. Zhe Zhang’s lawyer explicitly stated plans to appeal, seeking for Zhang to be imprisoned at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn for ease of communication. He made a lengthy plea to the judge for leniency.
Zhe Zhang’s lawyer revealed that Zhang was raised by a single mother since childhood. In 2002, at the age of 14, Zhang immigrated to the United States with his mother and settled in Flushing. Due to his mother’s need to work long hours to support the family, Zhang spent much of his time alone, struggling in school and socially, often bullied by other children. As an adult, he made ends meet by selling marijuana as his primary source of income and investing in real estate. He has three children, one 10-year-old child in China, and a 9-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son in Queens, hoping for a reunion with his family one day.
Xin Gu’s father spoke in court, expressing his desire for harsh punishment for the defendants. He described Xin Gu as the pillar and support of their family, a young life full of potential tragically taken away, leaving their family devastated. He recounted the 5 years and 3 months since Xin Gu’s murder as their darkest moments, where he and his wife often felt deeply despondent, feeling the pain as if a thousand arrows pierced their hearts.
The father shared that Xin Gu came to the United States at the age of 12, a responsible and kind-hearted young man of outstanding character. While working at Qing Ming Yu’s company, he worked tirelessly and brought in substantial profits for the company within a few months, wearing out several pairs of shoes in the process. When financial troubles and trust issues arose in Yu’s company in 2018, Xin Gu resigned to start his own business, only to be hired to be killed by his former dedicated employee, Zhang. He directed a message to Qing Ming Yu, questioning his actions in front of his own family, and expressed his hope for justice to honor Xin Gu’s spirit.
Federal prosecutor Breon Peace stated after sentencing, “Qing Ming Yu was determined to kill Xin Gu because the latter founded a competing company, and Zhe Zhang executed this assassination without hesitation. Out of greed and revenge, they hired a hitman to brutally murder a young man, causing trauma to the victim’s family and shocking the Flushing community. These defendants will spend the rest of their lives in prison, being held accountable for this premeditated murder. I hope today’s sentence brings some solace to Xin Gu’s family.”
New York City Police Commissioner Edward A. Caban commented, “Today’s sentence serves as closure for the dedicated investigators who worked on this heinous case, and hopefully offers some comfort to the victim’s family and friends. Lifetime imprisonment is a fitting outcome for the cold-blooded crimes committed by these individuals.”
According to the prosecution’s indictment, Qing Ming Yu was the CEO of the construction company Amaco, specializing in renovating apartments in New York City. In 2015, Xin Gu joined Amaco as a project manager. He worked diligently, leading to a nearly quadruple growth in the company’s business. However, he became concerned about the company’s financial future and resigned in 2018 to establish his own real estate development company, KG Management.
After Xin Gu’s departure, several clients and employees severed ties with Qing Ming Yu’s company. Many projects with high profits were transferred from Amaco to KG Management, including one valued at $1 million. Allegedly feeling betrayed by Xin Gu, Qing Ming Yu hired Zhang and his nephew, You You (who has confessed and become a tainted witness), to kill Xin Gu. Zhang, in turn, hired Abreu as the hitman to carry out the murder.
From the evening of February 11, 2019, to the early morning of the next day, Xin Gu’s new company held a Chinese New Year celebration at the Lake Pavilion restaurant in Flushing. After the dinner, Xin Gu and a few others continued the celebration at the Grand Slam KTV club on Fowler Avenue. The hit team learned of this gathering and waited outside the club. When Xin Gu stepped out to wait for an Uber, Abreu approached him and fired several shots, resulting in his immediate death, followed by a getaway in Zhang’s car.
The prosecution revealed that in the three months following the murder, Qing Ming Yu paid You You $150,000 and gave Zhang $30,000 as payment for the murder.