From the desk of the Queens District Attorney, Melinda Katz
NEW YORK, NY – Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that XiaoNing Zhang, 25, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on murder and weapon possession charges in the stabbing death of a Queens immigration lawyer last month.
District Attorney Katz said, “As alleged, this was a brutal attack that ended in tragedy. The defendant showed up in her attorney’s office armed with two knives and stabbed the victim repeatedly in the neck, shoulders and torso. She was still in the victim’s office when the police arrived on the scene, and now faces serious charges.”
Zhang, of Kissena Boulevard in Flushing, Queens, was arraigned today before Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth C. Holder on a six-count indictment charging her with murder in the second degree, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, menacing in the third degree, criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation and harassment in the second degree. Justice Holder ordered the defendant to return to Court on June 8, 2022. If convicted, Zhang faces up to 25 years-to-life in prison.
According to the charges, on March 14, 2022, at approximately 12 noon, police responded to a 911 call of an assault in progress at 136-56 39th Ave. in Flushing, Queens. At the scene, police found Jim Li in his fourth-floor office bleeding from multiple puncture wounds. The 66-year-old immigration lawyer was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died as a result of the injuries.
DA Katz said Zhang’s clothes were allegedly stained with blood and two knives were recovered, including one found in the woman’s jacket pocket.