The parents of a 24-year-old dental student allegedly killed by an off-duty New York police officer Friday spoke out for the first time to demand justice.
Officer Yvonne Wu faces murder charges in the death of Jamie Liang, the lover of Wu’s ex-girlfriend, Jenny Li.
“Jamie was just 24 years old,” Liang’s father, Ying Ling, said, according to ABC7 News. “She had a bright future ahead of her. She loved life, she got a big heart, she loved everyone. Twenty-four years old.”
The New York Daily News reports the parents blame the New York Police Department for not preventing the murder and allegedly at first walking away from the investigation.
They have surveillance video which they say shows police knocking on the door of Li’s Brooklyn home and then immediately walking away.
18 minutes later, emergency responders rush into the home.
“I believe the door was unlocked,” said Ying Liang. “If they’d come in the first time, my daughter could have been saved.”
They want Wu to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and they say they will sue the NYPD for improper supervision of Wu.
“We also have information from approximately a month after the breakup, before the shooting, she was being given time off by her supervising NYPD officers because of her emotional state,” said the family’s attorney, Sanford Rubenstein, to the Daily News.
The NYPD responded in a statement to ABC7 News.
“Our hearts go out to the families who suffered terribly from a tragedy that left one person dead and another seriously wounded,” the statement read. “The case is under investigation by both the office of the New York State Attorney General and NYPD. Officer Wu has been charged in this case. We will review the civil matter if one is filed.”
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