Man Pleads Guilty To 2019 Murder Of Mother In Manhattan Apartment: DA

NEW YORK CITY — A Manhattan man who texted “I’m free” after killing his mother in a bid to accelerate his inheritance will spend at least 18 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Jared Eng, 25, pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree murder, said District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

The case stretches back to 2019, when Eng stood accused of slashing his mother Paula Chin’s throatinside their shared Tribeca apartment and dumping her body in New Jersey.

“This was a brutal and shocking murder of the defendant’s own mother, and while nothing can undo this tragedy, today’s guilty plea represents an important step towards justice,” Bragg said in a statement.

The shocking murder case began in February, when Eng reported Chin, 65, was missing for several days, authorities said.

Police later found Chin’s battered body stuffed stuffed in a garbage container near their family home in Morristown, prosecutors said.

Eng was indicted on a murder charge, and two women identified as his girlfriends were accused of helping him move Chin’s body, authorities said.

An investigation found that End sent a series of text messages after the slaying in which he wrote, “It’s done,” “I’m free” and that he got rid of his “problem,” prosecutors said. He also changed passwords on his mother’s bank accounts, searched for inheritance lawyers and researched ways to dispose of her body, including a Google search for “diy bone meal,” authorities said.

Prosecutors suspected Eng fought with his mother over his deceased father's fortune that was left to Chin, which Eng told the New York Post was $10 or $11 million.

Eng is scheduled for an Oct. 18 sentencing. He faces a minimum of 18 years and up to life in prison.