Chinese citizen sentenced to 25 years in prison for murder of Queens immigration lawyer – Queens Daily Eagle

By Noah Powellson

Xiaoning Zhang, a Chinese national convicted of murdering her former immigration lawyer in Queens, was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years to life in prison.

Those who spoke at the 27-year-old's hearing in Queens Criminal Court this week said Zhang's murder of Flushing lawyer Jim Li shocked the Queens legal and Chinese community in 2022 and that the impact has lingered.

Li, who emigrated to the United States after being imprisoned by the Chinese government for his involvement in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, often provided pro bono legal services, particularly to those seeking to immigrate to the United States. Friends and colleagues who made statements during Zhang's sentencing said Li's murder hurt not only those close to him but also immigrants across the city who relied on the pro bono services of lawyers like Li.

“This was an act of violence by an educated, manipulative and vindictive individual,” Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Zawistowski, who led the prosecution, told Queens Superior Court Judge Kenneth Holder, who oversaw the roughly two-week trial. “She not only took with her a husband, a son and a colleague, but also the voice of the countless customers who relied on Jim for support.”

Li was a prominent Chinese pro-democracy advocate in Flushing and gained a reputation for pro bono processing clients' asylum applications. In 2022, Zhang enlisted Li's help with her own asylum claim, claiming she was raped by police officers in Beijing before entering the United States on a student visa.

Li worked for Zhang for several months until she asked Li to remove a picture of herself at an anti-China demonstration from the internet, which she said had led to harassment. When Li said he couldn't remove the image, an argument ensued in which witnesses said Zhang admitted lying about her sexual assault and her student visa application.

Li responded that he would no longer be working on her case. At that point, Zhang tried to strangle Li, witnesses said. The police were called, but no arrests were made. On bodycam footage, Li could be heard saying he didn't want an arrest to ruin Zhang's asylum claim.

Three days later, on March 14, 2022, Zhang returned to Li's office with two knives and stabbed him four times when they were alone. He died in hospital later that day.

Friends and family members of Li crowded the courtroom Wednesday. Several of them gave victim impact statements expressing the pain caused by Li's murder. One of those people was a key witness in the prosecution's case, Chris Li, who had no relationship with the victim.

Chris Li was working alongside Li at the law firm when the murder occurred and held Zhang until police arrived. In a conversation with Holder on Wednesday, Chris Li spoke about the pain Li's murder inflicted on his community and his own psyche.

“This act of selfish violence spread fear throughout the city,” Chris Li told the judge. “The images of that day are burned into my memory.

Chris Li said the crime was committed not only against Li and his relatives, but also against the larger Chinese immigrant community, which consists of a number of people in need of pro-bono legal representation.

“The countless clients who relied on Jim for their cases remain in limbo,” said Chris Li.

Chris Li said his friend's murder had a far-reaching impact on the legal community. He said lawyers he knows have expressed fear and reluctance to take on pro bono clients about the murder because they fear acts of charity could be met with violence.