Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on the 20th that seven 17-year-old teenagers were indicted by a grand jury on 25 felony counts for allegedly using violence against two Chinese girls in Flushing Kissena Corridor Park, including attempted second-degree murder, gang attack, robbery, strangulation, and illegal possession of weapons. According to the charges, the defendants planned to lead the victims into the woods to commit violence, using metal bats, spiked gloves, and humiliating attacks. If convicted, the seven will face up to 25 years in prison.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, on the afternoon of May 2, a 17-year-old female defendant and the 13-year-old victim were friends. The two sides had a feud a month ago. The defendant led the girl to Kissena Park on the pretext of “talking about reconciliation.” At the time, she went there with another 16-year-old friend Mary (pseudonym). The two were playing ball on the park court, but were surrounded by the seven defendants and their accomplices and forced into the park woods.
In the woods, Mary was violently beaten on the head and body with a metal baseball bat and gloves by several people, her clothes and shoes were stripped off, and her cell phone was robbed. During the attack, she was strangled to coma, and part of her hair was shaved with an electric hair clipper. The 13-year-old girl tried to stop it and was also beaten and hit with a baseball bat, and her cell phone was destroyed.
The perpetrators fled after committing the crime. The police arrived at the scene after receiving the report, and both victims were sent to the hospital for emergency treatment. The 13-year-old girl’s injuries included bruises all over her body, injuries behind her eyes, and concussion. Mary suffered symptoms such as swelling of the head, headache, and blurred memory, and was discharged from the hospital a few days later.
According to the indictment, the seven 17-year-old defendants were charged with a total of 25 felonies, including attempted second-degree murder, first-degree gang assault and first-degree assault, robbery, gang assault, second-degree strangulation, and one count of obstructing breathing or blood circulation. Finally, the indictment also listed three counts of fourth-degree illegal possession of weapons, pointing out that the defendants used dangerous items such as metal baseball bats and gloves with metal spikes to attack.
The prosecutors stressed that although the defendants are all minors, they will be prosecuted according to adult standards to reflect the importance of public safety and justice for the victims. Katz said, “According to the indictment, this group of teenagers lured the victim into a remote area of the park and violently beat and humiliated him. This is a shocking collective attack. The prosecutors will strictly investigate according to the law and will not tolerate it.”
According to earlier reports, the victim Mary is a student at Flushing High School. After the incident, her body gradually recovered, but her mental state continued to be depressed. Her mother said that Mary has not left the house and refused to go back to school. She locked herself in the room all day and showed trauma reactions such as insomnia, fear, and speech closure. The family is considering arranging psychological counseling and home visit services for her. They are also worried that some of the perpetrators are studying in the same school as Mary. Once the other party is released on bail and returns to school, it will pose a secondary threat to Mary’s safety.
