Murder of Yao Yu

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Murder of Yao Yu
Location
Date
Target	Yao Yu
Attack type	Rape and fatal beating
Weapons	Metal pipe
Deaths	1
Perpetrator	Carlos Salazar Cruz
Verdict	Pleaded guilty to second-degree murder

On May 16, 2010, Yao Yu (Chinese: 姚宇; pinyin: Yáo Yǔ), a 23-year-old Chinese woman who had recently arrived in the United States, was beaten and sexually assaulted by Carlos Salazar Cruz in Flushing, Queens, New York City. Yao was attacked with a metal pipe while walking home from grocery shopping, then dragged into a driveway beside a residential building. She sustained severe head injuries and died several days later.

Cruz was arrested near the scene after a witness called 911 and identified him to police. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in February 2011 and was sentenced that April to 22 years to life in prison. The killing led to vigils, self-defense programs, demands for additional police protection, and the formation of a volunteer neighborhood patrol in Flushing.

Yao's name is rendered in New York court records and much of the local English-language coverage as Yu Yao. Her Chinese name, 姚宇, follows the Chinese convention of placing the family name first and is romanized as Yao Yu.

Background

Yao was from Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang, China. She arrived in New York on a student visa approximately two months before the attack and had been living in Flushing for about three weeks. She worked at a nail salon and hoped to save enough money to study law. She was her parents' only child.

Attack and arrest

At approximately 9:10 p.m. on May 16, Yao was walking with groceries along 41st Road near Main Street in downtown Flushing. According to prosecutors and later court records, Cruz struck her in the head with a metal pipe on the sidewalk, pulled her by her hair into the driveway or alley beside 133-23 41st Road, and continued the assault there. He also sexually assaulted her.

David Chiu, who lived in the building with his family, heard a woman yelling and saw a person striking another person with a pipe inside the property's gate. He called 911 twice, went outside, and flagged down an approaching police car. Chiu pointed out Cruz as he was walking toward College Point Boulevard, and officers apprehended him nearby. Chiu subsequently identified him to police. Police recovered the bloodied pipe, and Yao was taken to New York Hospital Queens.

Yao suffered a fractured skull and bleeding in the brain. She was declared brain-dead on May 18 and was removed from life support several days later. Contemporary reports generally gave May 21 as the date on which she was formally pronounced dead, while a 2017 court decision listed her date of death as May 18.

Early reports stated that several passersby had witnessed parts of the assault without intervening, prompting criticism in Chinese-language media and among local community leaders. The later civil-court record, however, documented Chiu's immediate calls to 911 and his role in directing police to Cruz.

Criminal proceedings

Cruz, then 28 and living in Jackson Heights, Queens, was initially charged with attempted murder, assault, aggravated sexual abuse, and kidnapping. After Yao's death, prosecutors upgraded the case to second-degree murder.

On February 14, 2011, Cruz pleaded guilty in New York Supreme Court, Queens County, to second-degree murder. During his plea, he acknowledged that he had forced Yao and struck her, causing the injuries that killed her. Justice Richard L. Buchter agreed to impose a sentence of 22 years to life.

Cruz was formally sentenced on April 27, 2011. Yao's mother, Yu Guihua (于桂华), attended the hearing and delivered a victim-impact statement. Cruz attributed his conduct to alcohol and drugs and expressed regret. Buchter imposed the agreed sentence of 22 years to life, stating that Cruz was not guaranteed release after serving the minimum term.

Response and aftermath

Family and funeral

Because Yao's family was in China, then-state assemblywoman Grace Meng and U.S. representative Gary Ackerman helped obtain an expedited visa for Yao's mother. She arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport after Yao had been removed from life support. Ackerman later helped her obtain another visa to attend Cruz's sentencing.

Yao's funeral was held in Flushing on June 3, 2010, and was led by Paul Xie, the priest of St. George's Church, which Yao had begun attending after arriving in New York. Her remains were cremated at St. Michael's Cemetery in East Elmhurst, Queens.

Community safety initiatives

The case prompted concern about safety in Flushing, particularly among Chinese residents. Residents organized vigils and free self-defense classes. A volunteer group variously described as the Flushing Neighborhood Watch Team or Community Mutual Aid Teams of Neighborhood Watch was formed shortly after the killing. Approximately 40 volunteers initially patrolled local streets wearing uniforms and carrying whistles, distributed safety information, and encouraged businesses to improve exterior lighting.

The neighborhood patrol continued operating in subsequent years. In 2014, China Daily reported that teams of approximately ten volunteers were still patrolling downtown Flushing on weeknights and described the group as having originated in response to Yao's murder. After several other violent crimes in the neighborhood during the summer of 2010, city council members Peter Koo and Peter Vallone Jr. joined the watch group in calling for a larger police presence in Flushing.

Civil litigation

In 2011, the administrator of Yao's estate brought a wrongful-death and personal-injury action against Cruz, the City of New York, and the owner of the property where the assault occurred. The complaint alleged that the city had failed to provide adequate police protection and that the property owner had failed to maintain safe premises.

In March 2017, the New York Supreme Court granted summary judgment to the city and the property owner. The court found that the city had not assumed a special duty toward Yao and that the property owner had no relationship with either Yao or Cruz that made the attack a legally foreseeable premises-security risk. Claims against both defendants were dismissed. A default judgment had previously been entered against Cruz, and the estate was permitted to proceed to an assessment of damages against him.

See also

• Murder of Xinran Ji
• Murders of Ming Qu and Ying Wu
• Crime in New York City

References

This article "Murder of Yao Yu" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Murder of Yao Yu. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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