New York City man allegedly followed woman home, pushed his way into her apartment, and stabbed her 40 times
Manhattan District Attorney's Office is investigating whether Assamad Nash targeted Christina Yuna Lee due to her race
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A New York City man has been charged with first-degree murder on Monday after police say he followed a woman into her Chinatown apartment where he attacked her and stabbed her more than 40 times.
Assamad Nash, 25, was located by police under his alleged victim's bed in the early morning hours Sunday and was taken into custody, officials said. His alleged victim was identified as Christina Yuna Lee, who was 35.
Nash was charged with first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, and first-degree burglary as a sexually motivated felony.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Judge Jay Weiner ordered Nash to be held without bail. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday evening.
This mugshot shows Assamad Nash, 25, who was taken into custody over the fatal stabbing of Christina Yuna Lee inside her sixth-floor walk-up Chinatown apartment on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. (Fox News)
Lee returned to her apartment in Manhattan's Chinatown around 4:20 a.m. on Sunday morning. Nash allegedly followed her inside and pushed his way in when they arrived on the sixth floor, according to a criminal complaint.
"She opened the door, and he just slipped in right behind her. She never even knew he was there," Brian Chin, Lee’s landlord, said outside the building on Monday, according to WNBC. "She walked up six flights of stairs and this man mercilessly stalked her."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Police were called to the apartment after neighbors heard a woman screaming. An officer arrived around 4:25 a.m. and "heard the voice of a female calling for help from inside the apartment," but couldn't gain entry, according to the criminal complaint.
About an hour after law enforcement arrived at the scene, a detective with the NYPD's Emergency Service Unit busted down the door and found Lee on the bathroom floor naked from the waist up and "covered with blood and with stab wounds to the front of the torso."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Nash allegedly followed the woman inside her apartment at 111 Chrystie St. in Lower Manhattan. (Google Maps)
The detective then found Nash hiding under the bed with a stab wound to his torso, police said.
Lee was pronounced deceased approximately 15 minutes after law enforcement entered the apartment.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran said at Nash's arraignment that investigators are working to determine if her race played a role in the attack.
Multiple city and state leaders, including Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul, condemned the murder as an attack against the Asian American community.
Nash has an extensive record in New Jersey and was on supervised release for three open cases when he allegedly committed the murder, including one in which he is accused of punching a stranger on the subway, Yoran said Monday.