A Sunset Park man will spend 25 years in prison for fatally stabbing his former partner in 2019.
Sheng Mao Chen, 48, was convicted of first-degree manslaughter in May, nearly six years after the killing of 46-year-old Xiu Rong Zheng in Sunset Park. He was sentenced to prison in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Wednesday, after a bench trial.
According to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, Chen and Zheng had been involved in an extramarital affair. After Zheng ended the relationship, Chen harassed her and her husband for months.
On July 22, 2019, Zheng confronted Chen outside his home in Sunset Park, along with her 17-year-old son.
During the confrontation on the steps of his home, Chen stabbed Zheng 35 times. An investigation found that she had tried to defend herself and to flee, and received multiple defensive wounds to her hands and arms and “numerous” stab wounds to the back, as well as five wounds directly to her heart.
Zheng’s son witnessed the entire incident, and she was pronounced dead on the scene.
Chen immediately fled the state after the attack. Days later, police in Putnam County, Indiana stopped Chen for driving too slowly in the passing lane and quickly noticed blood on his pants and discovered a warrant for his arrest in New York.
He was swiftly arrested and extradited to New York.
“This was a deeply disturbing case of domestic violence that ended in a brutal killing,” Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez said in a statement. “After months of harassment, the defendant ambushed the victim and attacked her in front of his teenage son. I hope today’s sentence brings a measure of justice and closure to the victim’s loved ones.”
