It’s a story of a shattered American dream, the struggle of a Chinese immigrant and a mental health system that failed as a safety net.
Police say 25-year old Mindong Chen snapped in October and stabbed to death four children and their mother in New York.
A cousin who had been taken in by the family after losing his job was arrested.
The father of the children has since returned to China saying without his wife, Qiaozhen Li, 37 and children, he had nothing to keep him here after two decades in the United States.
The children, William, 1; Kevin, 5; Amy, 7; and Linda, 9 had gotten into an argument with Chen a day before the stabbing.
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A story in the New York Times paints a tragic picture of what went wrong.
“A father just wants to see his children grow up,” said Yilin Zhuo. “Now my children are gone. My wife is gone. Can I ever be happy again?”
A hearing will be held to determine if Chen is competent to stand trial for murder.
He is quoted as saying “everyone seems to be doing better than him” after being arrested.
You can read about Chen’s and Zhou’s brutal journey in the United States in the New York Times.
