Another Asian woman slain in New York

With the Chinese community in New York City still reeling after the January subway-shoving death of Michelle Go, another Asian woman has been killed, by an intruder in her apartment building early Sunday.

The killings have a familiar thread — the suspects charged in the two slayings are homeless men.

The brutal stabbing in Manhattan Chinatown happened two days after a rally in the neighborhood against a proposed city homeless shelter.

Against a larger backdrop of rising crime, the US' largest city and its new mayor, Eric Adams, are trying to get a grip on violence and the fear that it creates.

More lenient bail laws and fewer prosecutions are often blamed as factors in the crime surge.

New York City also is in a weakened economic condition with far fewer people working in offices since the March 2020 start of the COVID-19 pandemic. That in turn has led to more businesses being closed and reduced ridership on city transit, although it has rebounded some recently. High-profile shoplifting incidents also have created a sense of chaos and lawlessness in the city.

The killing of Go, 40, a California native of Chinese ancestry, drew nationwide attention. She was an MBA graduate who worked in mergers and acquisitions at consulting firm Deloitte. But she also was known for her volunteer work for the less fortunate.

Go was waiting on the platform at a Times Square station on the morning of Jan 15 when she was fatally shoved into the path of an oncoming train.

Martial Simon, 61, a homeless man said to be mentally ill, was subsequently arrested and charged with second-degree murder.

And while politicians and prosecutors debate how to address violent crime, the killings continue.

In the slaying Sunday, video obtained by the New York Post shows the suspect following the 35-year-old victim as she enters her Chrystie Street apartment building in Manhattan around 4:30 am, trailing her as she opens the front door and enters the hallway.

A neighbor across the hall of the victim's sixth-floor apartment called 911 after hearing her screams, law enforcement sources said.

Police who set up a perimeter saw a man climbing out onto the fire escape, holding something and with blood on his clothes.

The suspect, identified as Assamad Nash, 25, retreated into the building when he saw police, the Post reported.

Officers earlier had tried to break down the apartment door as the woman screamed for someone to call 911 inside, the Post reported, citing sources. Police tried using a sledgehammer but were initially unable to get inside until emergency services showed up.

"She got out of a cab right here and he followed her," the building's owner told the Post. "He grabbed the front door just before it closed. He followed her all the way up, hanging back, staying one floor behind her all the way up to the sixth floor. Then, he waited until her door was just about closed and he went in."

The victim, whose name was withheld pending family notification, was found in her bathtub "bleeding from multiple wounds to the body", while the suspect was discovered hiding under a bed, according to a source and an NYPD spokesman, the Post reported.

"My wife said I should call someone to clean all the blood but I'm going to clean it up myself," the building's owner said. "It's the least I can do for that poor girl."

Cops found a bloody knife in the apartment and believe it came from the victim's kitchen, sources said, adding that both Nash and the victim were stabbed.

"It appears that she put up quite a fight," a police source told the New York Daily News.

Sources said Nash is a homeless career criminal, the Post reported.

The victim was a digital producer, sources and neighbors said.

"She's from New Jersey, been here less than a year," the building's owner said Sunday. "Such a sweet girl."

Police are investigating whether the slaying was a hate crime.

"Maybe this is a hate crime. Maybe this is not a hate crime, but this is another Asian woman," state Senator John Liu told the Daily News. "Another Asian woman has been brutally attacked in her own home."

Mayor Adams denounced the crime in a statement Sunday.

"I and New Yorkers across the city mourn for the innocent woman murdered in her home last night in Chinatown, and stand with our Asian brothers and sisters today," the mayor said.

Nash has three pending criminal cases in Manhattan, the Post reported. He is accused of punching a subway rider in the eye at the Grand Street station on Sept 28, sources said. He was released without bail but did not appear for the case and was arrested two months later on a warrant, then released again.

In January 2021, he was charged with 27 counts of criminal mischief for damaging MetroCard machines, the sources said, the Post reported.

On Friday, residents of Manhattan Chinatown angrily protested plans for a city homeless shelter in the neighborhood.

"You are killing our people. You are killing our business. You are killing our livelihood," resident Mary Wang said, according to CBS New York.

The city plans to open the shelter next year on East Broadway by Forsythe Street. Residents say it will be the sixth shelter in their neighborhood.

"I feel not safe living in this community because I'm surrounded by shelters," one resident said.

The new shelter will house 120 single adults, CBS reported. The city said it decided to open it there after four homeless people were murdered while sleeping on the street in Chinatown in 2019.

"Many anti-Asian crimes are committed by homeless people who are mentally disturbed, and you put another shelter here?" one person said.

"In the past 38 years I've lived in Chinatown, it has never felt as unsafe as now. The homelessness is an issue," resident Raymond Tsang said.

"It is critical to treat all homeless people in New York City with dignity and respect," said George Nashak, director of Care for the Homeless.

On Feb 9, Adams went to the state capital in Albany to call for an overhaul of the state's bail laws. He wants judges to hold defendants in jail whom they deem dangerous.

Adams clashed with state Assembly member Latrice Walker of Brooklyn, who challenged him to debate the issue. She noted how other states that give judges discretion have seen a surge in violent crime and called the approach racially biased.

"I don't think you should debate me. You should debate the 11-month-old baby's mother," Adams responded, referring to a child who recently was shot in the face. "You should debate the two police officers that we lost," he said.

"It's you who are making this a political issue." Walker replied. "You don't have to tell me to debate a person who lost an 11-month-old child, because I lost a brother at the age of 19 years old to gun violence."

In addressing a different crime surge, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Wednesday that he is considering tougher charges for serial shoplifters.

Bragg told the Association for a Better New York that for "opportunists" who steal repeatedly from retail stores, he wants to prosecute multiple incidents together so they can be charged with a felony, reported politico.com.

But Bragg, who has been criticized for announcing that he wouldn't pursue charges for some felonies, said the new approach would not apply to people who steal because they are homeless, mentally ill or drug addicted, saying their cases can be addressed with social services.