Chinatown Woman Followed Home And Stabbed To Death: Police

CHINATOWN, NY — The man who followed a Chinatown woman into her apartment, stabbed her to death in the bathroom then tried to hide underneath her bed has been arrested and charged with murder, according to police and reports.

Assamad Nash, 25, stands accused of sneaking into Christina Yuna Lee's building on Chrystie and Grand streets about 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning and following the woman into her home, police announced Monday.

Nash was arrested Monday, one day after the New York Post and Times published surveillance footage of a man walking just footsteps behind Lee in her hallway.

"She got out of a cab right here and he followed her," the building owner of 111 Chrystie Street 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.”

Neighbors told the New York Post that they heard her screaming "Help me! Call 911."

Police arrived to find Lee stabbed to death in her bathroom and Nash hiding under her bed, according to police and reports.

"This is the definition of horrific," Mayor Eric Adams tweeted Sunday about the violent attack. "NYPD is investigating this incident and we stand with our Asian community today. The suspect is in custody, but the conditions that created him remain. The mission of this administration is clear: We won't let this violence go unchecked."

Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou, who represents Chinatown, called the attack "gruesome and horrible," at a press conference Sunday afternoon.

"This is so gruesome and so horrible and so cruel," Niou said. "Our communities deserve answers and we haven’t been given any. It is time to acknowledge that we exist and that the mental health crisis that is leading to an uptick in violent assaults is a problem and support our community for a change.”

Lee was a Rutgers graduate who worked as a senior creative produce at Splice, an online music collaboration and creation platform, a company spokesperson confirmed to the Times.

Nash, who has been charged with murder and burglary, did not appear to have known Lee, police said.

Nash has a history of misdemeanor arrests that include assault, harassment and selling a fare card, court records show.