A former Sunset Park resident has been sentenced to prison for violently beating and attempting to murder his former girlfriend, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced on Friday.
In 2016, 59-year-old Jun Zhang violently beat his then-girlfriend for hours, repeatedly stabbing her and slashing her throat, according to the DA’s office. Seven years later, Zhang was convicted of second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. On March 31, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice E. Niki Warin sentenced the defendant to 17 years in prison and five year’s post-release supervision.
On August 23, 2016 at around 4 a.m., Zhang accused the victim of cheating on him before pushing her onto a couch, pulling her hair and threatening her with a knife. He continued to abuse his then-partner for several hours, pushing her to the floor, punching, kicking and stabbing her.
Eventually, Zhang sliced her neck multiple times with a knife before, then dragged her into a massage room at the massage parlor he managed at the time and left her on the floor.
Evidence further showed when the defendant returned, he placed his fingers under the victim’s nose but she held her breath and pretended to be dead.
After Zhang left the parlor, the victim made it to the street where she collapsed. Two people called 911, reporting that a woman was covered in blood. Emergency personnel responded to the call and rushed the victim to a nearby hospital where she was treated for brain bleeding, a liver laceration, collapsed lungs, deep lacerations to her neck and puncture wounds to her chest.
“This was a life altering assault that the victim survived because of her will to live for her children. She showed tremendous courage by coming to court and testifying against her abuser and detailing the many physical and emotional traumas she suffers to this day,” District Attorney Gonzalez said in a statement. “I also commend our prosecutors for their commitment to bringing the defendant to justice.”
Doctors testified in trial that the victim had lost 30 to 40% of her blood in the attack.
The defendant fled New York but on May 10 2021, he was arrested in connection with a shooting in California. That case was not prosecuted — however, Zhang’s fingerprints triggered the New York warrant for his arrest. He was soon extradited to Brooklyn to stand trial.
