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Chinatown - The Murder of Producer Christina Yuna Lee · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Deep Dive. And today we're dealing with
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  a case that really shook New York City, the murder
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  of Christina Uni Lee. We're going to be looking at
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  not just what happened, you know from the court documents
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  and news reports, even a lawsuit, but asking ourselves could
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  this have been prevented. It's going to be a tough
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  one cuff.
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  Speaker 2: And unfortunately not an isolated incident. This case, what happened
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  to Christina. It forces us to examine the systems that
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  are supposed to be there to protect people and ask
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  where did they fail?
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  Speaker 1: Right? Yeah, Okay, So anyone who maybe doesn't know the case,
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  let's lay it out. February twenty twenty two. Christina, she's
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  thirty five years old, a creative producer, and she's just
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  walking back to her apartment in Chinatown and she's being followed.
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  Speaker 2: And it's not someone casually walking by. This this is targeted.
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  We're talking about Asamad Nash, twenty seven at the time,
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  and he's caught on surveillance footage. You actually see him
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  trailing Christina up six flights of stairs. He waits for
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  her to get to her door. It's chilling.
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  Speaker 1: So this was not at all a kime of opportunity.
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  This is like premeditated and it's just it's awful. Then
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  it gets even worse. He forces his way into her
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  apartment and Christina she fights back. She actually grabs a knife.
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  She even manages to slash Nash on his torso her
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  shoulder is injured.
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  Speaker 2: She fought hard to get away, but Nash he overpowers her.
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  The level of violence he stabs her over forty times,
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  it's brutal, it's excessive, and it suggests a level of
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  rage that's really hard to even grasp.
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  Speaker 1: It's just god horrifying. And if that wasn't enough, he
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  tries to escape through her fire escape, leaving Christina's body
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  in the bath tub. It just feels so senseless. And
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  we have to talk about Christina because she wasn't just
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  you know, a name and a headline. This was a
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  vibrant young woman. She was a Rutgers University graduate, creative producer.
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  What else can you tell us about her?
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  Speaker 2: Everyone who knew Christina, they use words like warmth to
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  describe her. She was kind, she was joyful. She was
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  that person who just made everyone around her feel better,
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  feel a little lighter. Her death it just devastated her
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  family and it was a shock to.
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  Speaker 1: The community and her father Sinkon. He gave this incredibly
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  moving statement in court. He talked about the pain of
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  losing Christina, how he could never forgive Nash, how no sentence,
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  no amount of time would ever really be justice. He
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  even he read a poem that he had written.
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  Speaker 2: For Christina, and Christina's mother, well, the grief was just
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  so overwhelming. She couldn't even bring herself to attend the sentencing.
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  This case. It didn't just end to life, It shattered a.
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  Speaker 1: Family's It's heartbreaking. But here's the thing that gets me,
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  and I'm not sure if this even makes sense, but
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  it's almost more disturbing the fact that Nash showed zero remorse.
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  He had a chance to speak in court and he refused.
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  Speaker 2: That's right, no emotion, no apology, not even an attempt
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  to explain himself. It's important, I think, to remember that
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  Nash he was experiencing homelessness at the time of the murder.
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  He had some prior arrests to robbery other things, so.
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  Speaker 1: This wasn't some I don't know, random act of violence
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  by a stranger. There's got to be more to it right.
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  Speaker 2: Prosecutors presented him as someone who was very troubled. They
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  called him a violent, anti social sex offender. They said
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  he had a history of assaulting women. They brought up
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  his jail medical records even which had some really disturbing
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  details about his behavior toward women.
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  Speaker 1: So we've got this horrifying crime, We've got this guy
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  who's clearly very troubled. You would think, you know, the
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  sentience of the punishment would reflect that, like, Okay, at
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  least now he's off the streets.
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's actually where it gets a bit complicated. See, Nash,
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  he took a plea deal in the end, pled guilty
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  to second degree murder and first degree burglary, but with
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  this added sexually motivated felony specification, which is actually a
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  pretty big deal. He got thirty years to life.
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  Speaker 1: Thirty years to life. I mean, that just feels I
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  don't know, it feels incomplete somehow, like there's this small
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  piece of justice maybe, but then this huge question mark
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  hanging over it all, you know what I mean.
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  Speaker 2: And that's exactly how Christina's family felt. You know, no
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  sentence can ever bring her back, but they were hoping
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  for at least some reassurance that this couldn't happen again,
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  that he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else.
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  Speaker 1: But here's the thing, and this is what I don't understand.
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  He first said he was innocence, Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: He did, even after they arrested him. There are these
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  reports of him bragging that the prosecutors didn't have anything
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  on him, that they didn't have enough evidence. Then all
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  of a sudden guilty plea. It felt calculated, like he
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  was playing the system.
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  Speaker 1: The very system that should have been protecting people from him.
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  Speaker 2: Possibly. Yeah, And it's that manipulation that uttered disregard for
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  the life he took that just makes this whole thing
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  even more disturbing. But it gets more complicated, and this
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  is something that Christina's father was very angry about. Remember
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  we mentioned those prior arrests.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, he was out on supervised release, right, So he
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  was already in the system.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly, out on supervise release for another crime he committed.
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  And this is where the case goes beyond just this
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  one awful act, and we have to look at the
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  system itself.
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  Speaker 1: So Christina's dad suncon He's understandably furious, right, He's basically
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  saying the laws are flawed, that they allowed someone like
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  Nash to be free, free to hurt his daughter. I
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  can't even imagine that kind of anger.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and he's not the only one feeling that way.
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  That idea that this wasn't just one person messing up,
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  but a failure of the system at multiple levels that
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  resonated with a lot of people.
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  Speaker 1: And that's where the lawsuit comes in, the one against
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  New York City and the NYPD.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly Christina's family. They filed this lawsuit and their alleging negligence.
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  They're saying there were opportunities to intervene that maybe, just maybe,
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  if things were done differently, Christina might still be here.
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  Speaker 1: Wait, are you saying they think that, even with how
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  messed up the justice system is, there were still mischances
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  to actually save her. Yeah, like during the attack, that's
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  what they're claiming.
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  Speaker 2: The lawsuit focuses on these nine to one one calls
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  made that night. Neighbors could hear screaming coming from Christina's apartment,
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  but the police their response was.
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  Speaker 1: Delayed, delayed. How delayed are we talking about here?
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  Speaker 2: They didn't go into the apartment right away. It wasn't
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  until about an hour later that Christina was found an hour.
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  Speaker 1: I don't even know what to say to that. What
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  were they even doing for a whole hour.
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  Speaker 2: That's what the lawsuit is trying to figure out. Seen.
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  His family is saying that the NYPD hasn't been upfront
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  about what they were doing that night. They're saying that
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  they found out about how bad Christina's injuries were. You know,
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  those forty scab wounds. They found out for the media,
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  not from the police.
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  Speaker 1: It's just god to think that someone was right there,
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  that they heard her struggling, but it still wasn't enough.
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  Speaker 2: And that's what the family wants to know, right why
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  that lack of transparency just makes the distrust worse. It
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  makes it feel like the system that's supposed to protect us,
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  especially in cases like this, is.
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  Speaker 1: Failing, and you can't ignore the bigger picture. This was
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  twenty twenty two, remember right when there was that awful
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  rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans in New York.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly in this case. It became this tragic symbol like
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  this very public, very very painful reminder of how vulnerable
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  so many people were feeling, and it made the API
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  community even louder in their calls for change, demanding real protection,
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  you know, and accountability. It wasn't just a tragedy. It
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  was a it was a wake up call for everyone.
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  Speaker 1: It's just it's easy to get caught up in the
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  legal arguments, the systemic failures. But you know, we just
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  we can't lose sight of Christina.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 1: She was young, she had her whole life ahead of her,
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  and her future was just taken from her.
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  Speaker 2: You're absolutely right. We have to remember Christina for who
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  she was. Talented, a beloved daughter, a friend, someone who
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  brought joy to the people around her. Her story is
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  about so much more than the horrible way it had
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  to end.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's about looking out for each other, about how
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  much we value each life, each person in our communities.
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  It's about how we react not just to these individual acts,
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  but to the hate, you know, the prejudice behind them.
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  Speaker 2: It's a call to action. Really, it's not enough to
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  be outraged or sad even We have to do something.
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  We have to channel all of that into making a
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  real change.
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  Speaker 1: But how how do we even begin to do that?
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  Speaker 2: That's the question, isn't it the million dollar question? It's complicated,
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  there's no one answer, no easy fix. But there are
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  things we can do, supporting those organizations that are fighting
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  to end violence, especially violence against women, addressing homelessness, pushing
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  for better resources for mental health, demanding criminal justice reform.
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  I mean, these are just some of the pieces.
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  Speaker 1: So it's about looking at the whole system, seeing where
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  it's broken, where people are being let down, and saying,
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  you know, we have to do better, We can do better.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly Christina's murder. It was devastating, but her story it
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  can be what makes us finally make a change if
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  we're willing to listen, if we're willing to learn from
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  this and to act.
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  Speaker 1: Christina unilely, her life was cut way too short, but
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  her story it stays with you. We encourage everyone listening
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  go and learn more about her, about what this case
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  showed us, and ask yourself, what can you do? What
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  can we all do to make this world safer? Thanks
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  for joining us for this deep dive.