FIVE TEENS INDICTED IN AMBUSH DEATH OF CHINESE FOOD DELIVERYMAN

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today the indictment of five Queens teenagers on charges of murdering a Chinese food deliveryman during a robbery planned by them.

District Attorney Brown said, ”This was a terribly tragic case. Mr. Jin Sheng Liu was a hard-working immigrant who left a wife and two children. He was killed without provocation in a shocking and senseless crime which stunned the City”.

District Attorney Brown identified the defendants as Robert Savage, 15, of 177-03 130th Avenue, Jamaica, Stacy Royster, 18 of 257-52 148th Drive, Rosedale, James Stone, 17, of 176-31 130th Avenue, Jamaica, Jamel Murphy, 17, of 219-05 131st Avenue, Springfield Gardens and Darryl Tyson, 18, of 132-07 178th Street, Jamaica. They are all charged with two counts of Murder in the Second Degree, Manslaughter in the First Degree, Robbery in the First and Second degrees and criminal possession of a weapon. Each of the defendants face a penalty of from 15 to 25 years to life in prison upon conviction except the defendant Savage who, because of his age at the time of the crime, is a juvenile offender and faces a maximum penalty of 9 years to life in prison if convicted of Mr. Liu's murder.

District Attorney Brown said, “It is alleged that during the evening of September 1st the defendants had been together at the home of one of the defendants and had eaten Chinese food. They decided that they wanted more food. So they allegedly hatched a plan. They called Mr. Liu's restaurant -- The Golden Wok -- on Linden Blvd. in St. Albans and placed an order, intending to rob the deliveryman and steal the food. They asked that the food be delivered to a vacant house at 130-19 176th Street. Their alleged plan was to have the defendant Royster sit on the steps of the house while the others hid and when the deliveryman arrived with the food to throw a bed sheet over his head and steal the food.”

District Attorney Brown continued, “Mr. Liu arrived a little before midnight with the order and, it is alleged, the teenagers grabbed him and threw the bed sheet over his head. The 14-year old, Robert Savage, then allegedly hit Mr. Liu twice in the head with a brick. A neighbor found Mr. Liu on the sidewalk bleeding profusely from the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.”

Assistant District Attorney Keith Kalmus of the District Attorney's Homicide Investigations Bureau, which is under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Peter T. Reese and Robert J. Schwerdt and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney Gregory L. Lasak, presented the matter to the Grand Jury. Assistant District Attorney Stephen M. Antignani of the District Attorney's Homicide Trials Bureau, which is under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Daniel A. Saunders is in charge of the prosecution.

It should be noted that an indictment is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.