A Brooklyn man on Wednesday was sentenced to prison after bludgeoning and strangling a 43-year-old mother to death and wounding her 5-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter with a hammer.
Liyong Ye, 50, of Sunset Park, was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison in accordance with a court offer in which the defendant pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder in exchange for this promised sentence, according to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
According to the investigation, on August 23, 2023, at approximately 1:30pm, Ye attacked Zhao Zhao, 43, and her two children inside an apartment at 531 52nd St. shared by the two families and two roommates. The defendant and Zhao had previously argued over living conditions inside the apartment, prosecutors said.
According to the investigation, the defendant called one of his roommates, shortly after the attack, and told him to pick up the defendant’s 5-year-old son. When the roommate returned to the apartment, he found the floor and walls of the kitchen covered with blood. The defendant was holding a bloody hammer in his hand and standing over the bodies of Zhao and her children, according to prosecutors.
Zhao was taken to Lutheran Hospital where she was pronounced dead from massive blunt force trauma to the head and body. Her children were treated at the Pediatric Trauma Unit at Bellevue Hospital and subsequently transferred to a long-term rehabilitation facility where they recovered from their critical injuries, Gonzalez said.
“This defendant carried out a shockingly brutal assault on an innocent mother and her two defenseless young children, leaving the family shattered and the community heartbroken," Gonzalez said in a statement. "This significant sentence holds him fully accountable and protects the public."
