Queens District Attorney Katz announced on the 16th that Brooklyn Chinese man Shao Tong Lian, suspected of the August 2022 murder of 55-year-old Flushing woman Fang Chen, has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of second-degree murder.
According to Katz, the defendant allegedly agreed with the victim to exchange money for sexual services, and less than 20 minutes after arriving at the victim’s apartment, brutally stabbed her to death. The DA’s office closely collaborated with the NYPD to bring murder charges against the defendant. “As the family of Fang Chen continues to mourn, we express our deepest condolences to them,” Katz said.
At the age of 41 and residing on 6th Avenue in Brooklyn, Shao Tong Lian appeared in Queens Supreme Court on the 15th facing charges of second-degree murder and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Presiding Judge Ushir Pandit-Durant ordered the defendant to remain in custody, with another court appearance scheduled for June 24.
If convicted, Shao Tong Lian could face 25 years to life in prison.
According to the indictment, on the evening of August 25, 2022, at around 8:48 p.m., Shao Tong Lian went to Fang Chen’s apartment on 41st Road in Flushing to exchange money for sexual services. Surveillance footage showed Fang Chen letting Shao Tong Lian into the building at 8:53 p.m., and he left around 9:08 p.m. The next morning around 7 a.m., Fang Chen’s roommate found her lying in a pool of blood in the bedroom, clearly deceased. Investigators discovered four knife wounds on her neck, ten on her back, and visible injuries on her right hand and head.
DNA left at the scene matched that of Shao Tong Lian.
It is reported that Fang Chen was from Hubei Province, China, and had been living in the building on 41st Road in Flushing for two to three years, trying to make a living in the United States.