Woman stabs Queens lawyer to death for refusing her case: cops

A Queens immigration lawyer was killed by an irate woman who stabbed him repeatedly in the chest Monday morning after he declined to take on her case, police sources and a friend said.

Great Neck resident Jim Li, 66, was at his office at 136-56 39th Ave. in Flushing when he was knifed by 25-year-old Xiaoning Zhang at around 11:45 a.m., according to police.

Li was taken by EMS to New York Presbyterian-Booth Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Zhang, a Queens resident, was slapped with charges of murder and criminal possession of a weapon, cops said. Two knives were recovered at the scene, sources said.

The victim’s friend, lawyer Wayne Zhu, told reporters that the deadly encounter took place after Li chose not to represent the woman last week.

Zhu said police showed up that day and took the woman away, though Li urged authorities not to press charges.

“He treats his clients very well, very nice,” Zhu said. “Even when this woman made trouble in the office, police came to drive her away. Mr. Li told the police ‘please, do not arrest her,’” recalled the friend.

Before coming to the US, Li took part in the Tiananmen Square protests in China, acting as legal counsel while studying law at Peking University, according to Zhu.

Li was then imprisoned in China for about a year-and-a-half, Zhu said, before leaving the country to continue his education at Wisconsin University.

“He’s one of the best men,” Zhu said. “I will miss him. I lost my friend. Flushing lost a good lawyer.”