Christina Yuna Lee, 35, appeared to be followed into her New York City apartment where she was brutally stabbed to death after taking a taxi home on a night out
Image: NYPD)
A woman was captured on video in the final moments before she was stabbed to death in her flat.
The clip shows Christina Yuna Lee, 35, being followed home to her Chinatown, New York, apartment by her alleged killer who appears to be close behind her as she opens the front door.
A neighbor on the sixth floor called police moments after the chilling scene which was captured on surveillance footage obtained by the New York Post.
“She was calling for help, screaming for help. I work up to it. It was awful,” they told the publication.
Ms Lee was discovered in her bathtub “bleeding from multiple wounds” while her alleged killer was found hiding under a bed, according to the New York Police Department (NYPD).
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Officers found a bloodied knife in Ms Lee’s flat which they believe came from her own kitchen, according to sources who claimed that both she and the attacker were stabbed.
A 911 call was made at around 4.30am on Sunday after screams were heard around the time of the stabbing, law enforcement sources said.
Cameras show every floor of the apartment block and the front of the building, according to its owner.
The owner told The Post that a man followed the woman after she got out of a taxi and grabbed the front door just before it closed, following her all the way to the sixth floor at a distance.
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“My wife said I should call someone to clean all the blood but I’m going to clean it up myself. It’s the least I can do for that poor girl,” they added.
Ms Lee was unaware she was being stalked by a random man who tailed her after a night out, police said.
The suspect has been identified as Assamad Nash who was found in the apartment covered in blood.
The 25-year-old allegedly tried to flee via the fire escape before barricading himself inside.
This prompted the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit to burst through the door, sources claim.
Ms Lee was pronounced dead by medics just before 6am.
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Officers who were close to the building when the emergency call came in rushed to the scene in an attempt to break down Ms Lee’s door.
At one point, a sledgehammer was allegedly used.
Sources described Nash as a homeless career criminal with three open cases and a record of several escapes from police custody.
The victim was said to be a digital producer of Asian heritage who lived in New Jersey before moving to New York.
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Mayor Eric Adams denounced the attack in a statement on Sunday and said police are investigating whether it was a hate crime.
Mr Adams told how “the city mourns for the innocent woman murdered in her own home” and that the administration “won’t let this violence go unchecked.”
Leaders of the Asian American community are demanding action from the city.
Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou broke down in tears at a press conference and said “this is so gruesome and so horrible and so cruel.”
She urged the city to “stop saying sorry” and said that its communities “deserve answers.”
The attack is the latest in a string of violent acts against Asian Americans in New York in recent months.
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