Generous Brooklynites have raised over $100,000 for the children who survived a horrific hammer attack at their Sunset Park home that left their mother dead.
On Aug. 25, 43-year-old Zhao Zhao was killed in a brutal attack inside her 52nd Street residence. Her children, David, 5, and Sophia, 3, were left severely injured by the attacker.
Paramedics rushed the three victims to NYU Langone Hospital, where Ms. Zhao was pronounced dead.
The children were later transferred to Bellevue Hospital Trauma Center, where Sophia’s condition remains critical and David recently regained consciousness.
Cops arrested 47-year-old Liyong Ye for allegedly carrying out the gruesome attack and charged him with murder, along with two counts of attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
Ye and his 9-year-old son lived in the same apartment as Zhao and her children, though they were not related, according to investigators.
A fundraiser organized by local charity Parent Child Relationship Association has so far raised $130,000 to pay for the living and medical expenses of the family, who reportedly have nowhere to live once the children are discharged from hospital.
Zhao’s husband Jing Hong Liu recently returned to New York to be by his children’s bedside, having been working in Ohio as a restaurant kitchen worker to support his family. The family immigrated to the U.S. from China’s Fujian Province.
“He is doing his best to stay strong to support his children,” Nicole Huang of the Parent Child Relationship Association wrote on the fundraising page. “For the foreseeable future, he won’t be able to work, because he needs to be by his children’s side. The children will also need a lot more resources for long term recovery, both physically and mentally. And resources are something this family is in lack of.”
Huang added that the family currently have nowhere to live when they are discharged from hospital, and hopes the funds raised will help the children recover without worrying over financial burdens.
“Five-year-old David and three-year-old Sophia were the couple’s pride and joy. They made all the sacrifices possible to ensure their children would have a better future,” she said.
