Client convicted for murdering Tiananmen Square 'hero' lawyer who refused to continue representation
Immigration lawyer Jim Li had been jailed for 22 months in China after he participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. (Photo by Jiří Tondl, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
A New York woman was convicted of murder Friday for fatally stabbing her immigration lawyer in March 2022, three days after police escorted her from the law office for a choking attack.
Xiaoning Zhang, 27, of Queens in New York City killed 66-year-old lawyer Jim Li after he dropped her as a pro bono asylum client, according to a Sept. 20 press release by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz in New York City.
Law.com has coverage.
Li had been jailed for 22 months in China after he participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, according to prior news coverage. He sought asylum in the United States in 1993.
“Jim Li was a renowned immigration attorney in Flushing and hero for his actions in Tiananmen Square,” Katz said in the press release. “We extend our condolences to Mr. Li’s many family members and friends, both in the legal community and around the world.”
Zhang allegedly became enraged when Li told her that he could not get a photo of her protesting at the United Nations removed from the internet. Zhang then admitted that she lied on her asylum application about being raped by police in China, according to prosecutors. Li told Zhang that he could no longer represent her.
Zhang “reacted by grabbing Li by the neck and choking him,” according to the press release. Police escorted Zhang from the building and told her not to return.
Zhang was armed with two knives when she returned March 14, 2022. She stabbed Li repeatedly in the chest and neck, prosecutors said.
Zhang was convicted of murder in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, menacing in the third degree, criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation, and harassment in the second degree.
Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 2. Zhang faces a possible sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
