Woman Fatally Stabbed After Followed From Street to Sixth-Floor Apartment

Police say a 35-year-old woman was fatally stabbed in her New York City apartment in Chinatown by a man who followed her off the street and into her building before killing her.

Christina Yuna Lee was found early Sunday morning in her bathtub with multiple stab wounds. Assamad Nash, 25, was arrested for the crime after surveillance camera footage obtained by the New York Post showed the man following her into the building just before the brutal attack.

The footage shows Yuna Lee entering her building when the suspected killer caught the door right before it closed and walked in behind her. Nash followed her up to her sixth-floor apartment staying one floor behind her at all times. He then waited until Yuna Lee entered her apartment and waited just before the door closed before entering, a law enforcement source told the Post.

A short time later, two young women who lived across the hall heard screaming from the brutal attack and called 911 around 4:30 a.m. Police arrived minutes later and found the suspect had barricaded himself in the apartment after failing to flee down a fire escape, WNBC-TV reported.

Emergency Service Units had to break down the steel door to enter the apartment, but by the time they reached Yuna Lee she was already dead. First responders found her in the bathtub “bleeding from multiple wounds to the body,” according to a source and an NYPD spokesman the Post reported.

Police found Nash hiding under the bed covered in blood. A bloody knife was located in the apartment believed to come from the victim’s kitchen. Sources told the Post that Nash and the victim were both stabbed.

Nash was taken into custody on the scene and brought to the hospital for evaluation, law enforcement sources told WNBC. Charges are pending Monday and sources added it does not immediately seem to be a hate crime, but the investigation is ongoing.

“This is the most horrific scenario you can ever imagine,” the building’s landlord, Brian Chin said. “She did nothing wrong—she entered and he followed her. I’m angry; I’m devastated for this woman and her family [and] heartbroken for everyone in the building.”

Nash was reportedly homeless at the time of the incident and a career criminal. According to court records, he has three open court cases and was set to appear before a judge next month for charges of assault, harassment, and intentional damage to property.

Nash has been arrested at least seven times since 2015 with the most recent being January 6, 2022, according to WABC-TV. He has been out on bail for several offenses including an assault case in September, the Daily Mail added.

“While the suspect who committed this heinous act is now in custody, the conditions that created him remain,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement Sunday. “The mission of this administration is clear: We won’t let this violence go unchecked.”