Sister-in-law of mom in Brooklyn hammer attack slams accused killer: ‘Too cruel’
The sister-in-law of the Sunset Park mom fatally beaten with a hammer by a housemate who also bludgeoned her two young children ripped the accused attacker Friday for the cruelty of the beating — and revealed that he viscously targeted the children’s heads.
“No matter what my sister-in-law has done, you shouldn’t hit kids that badly,” Jinchai Liu said at the press conference at the Golden Imperial Palace in Brooklyn Friday afternoon.
“The perp is too cruel.”
Liu’s sister-in-law, Zhao Zhao, 43, was allegedly beaten to death at her home with a hammer on Wednesday afternoon by her family’s housemate, 47-year-old Liyong Ye.
Ye also left Zhao’s 5-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter with life-threatening injuries.
“The perp targeted their heads, he tried to beat them to death,” Liu said of Ye, who was arrested covered in blood at the scene and is now in custody on murder charges.
“[He] gave over a dozen injuries on their heads, with the biggest injury as big as a palm, v-shaped injuries, on both the boy’s head,” she continued.
“I saw the injuries this morning when they took off the bandages, how bad the injuries are. The girl’s injuries are very bad. She has stitches all over her face and head, stitches everywhere.
The children’s father, who has not been named publicly, did not attend the Friday press conference because doctors at NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn warned that his daughter could die at any moment.
“The little girl is critical. The doctor asked the father not to leave,” Asian American Community Empowerment (BRACE) President John Chan said.
“The boy is a little bit better, he has some movement in his fingers.”
Relatives are taking turns caring for the children at the hospital, Liu added.
The community is also trying to bring the childrens’ grandmother over from China, so she can help care for both them and her grieving son, Chan said.
“The father is mentally and physically destroyed. He needs his mother to come to support him. We pray for the two kids, that they get through this hard time,” he explained.
Assemblyman Lester Chang, whose district includes Sunset Park, also spoke briefly.
“The father is distraught. He has no animosity for the attacker,” he said.
The family of four had been living at the cramped rooming house for three years before the attack, Chang added.
Ye sat dazed-looking at his arraignment on Thursday as prosecutors argued that he planned the gruesome attack because he blamed the family for the difficult living conditions in the three-bedroom flat.
Ye and his 9-year-old son lived in one bedroom, while Zhao and her family occupied another, and the third was let to an unidentified single tenant.
The accused killer complained about the condition of the apartment kitchen and bathroom to the third roommate multiple times in the weeks before the attack, officials said.
“Sister in law is a very nice person…The kids are very lovely,” Liu insisted on Friday.
“We don’t know what is going to happen.”
John Chan and other local officials also used the press conference to rail against the community’s housing crisis, and called on the city to create more affordable housing for residents over newly-arrived migrants.
“The housing condition in this community is not that great. We have three families living in one apartment, while migrants are living at the Roosevelt Hotel,” the BRACE President lamented.
“We welcome migrants coming to this country, but [don’t] pay attention to the people who are already in this country.”
