More than 300 people including many from the Korean American community Friday attended a private funeral service for Christina Yuna Lee in Palisades Park, New Jersey.
Assamad Nash is accused of stabbing Lee 40 times after following her home to her Manhattan Chinatown apartment.
New Jersey.com described the service as “deeply emotional” with tears flowing as pallbearers carried the casket outside the church.
The case has not been classified as a hate crime, although many Asian Americans in both New York and New Jersey are calling for action to stop the rise of violence against members of their community.
Lee, 35, worked as a creative producer for Splice, a cloud-based music creation platform in New York.
“Over the weekend our beloved Christina Lee was senselessly murdered in her home. Our hearts are broken,” said Splice in a company statement to Billboard. “Always dedicated to making beautiful and inclusive artwork, Christina is irreplaceable. As we start to process this tragedy, we ask that you remember Christina Lee as the magical person she was, always filled with joy. We wish peace upon her family in their grief.”
One co-worker said on Twitter that “Christina was an irreplaceable presence. Heartbroken or devastated doesn’t begin to cover it.”
Kenneth Takanami added the two bonded shortly after the Atlanta shooting. Both pledged to “support one another” and “galvanize this moment to do some important work at Splice.”
“She hoped to start conversations around diversity and opportunities for creators of all backgrounds at our company.”
According to Billboard, her manager Dani DiCiaccio described her as “bubbly, curious, creative and confident human” in an Instagram post.
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