By Cynthia Koons
The woman, Xian Quian Cheung, a 41-year-old mother of two from Queens, was in the waiting room in the Colden Gardens condominium and office complex, at 42-31 Colden St., when the gunman stormed into the office brandishing a firearm, police said.He shot her to death in front of her daughter Risa, who police said was able to identify him at the scene.Police were looking for Michael Maurice Hicks, 51, of Brooklyn, who spent four years in jail after being convicted of murdering his girlfriend in the 1970s. He was still at large as of Tuesday.Hicks was dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt and dark jeans when he fired two shots at Cheung, one at her neck and one at her chest, police said.She was pronounced dead at the scene. Hicks fled after the shooting, police said.Authorities said Cheung and Hicks were ex-lovers. It was not clear whether the girl with Cheung was Hicks' daughter.Hicks escaped from the scene in a 1995 green Saturn, according to the Breaking News Network. Helicopters swarmed overhead last Thursday evening while police stood in the entranceway of the luxury condominium building and investigators worked on the scene.Worried parents rushed to a nursery school in the same building where they crossed police lines to pick up their children.In the neighborhood, residents milled about at the police lines. Most of them did not know the details surrounding the shooting.”He went right into an office, shot and killed her,” a Colden Street resident who only identified himself as Stanley said. “(This neighborhood) ain't want it used to be.”According to the police information sheet disseminated to officers looking for the suspect, Hicks is about 5-foot-8 and weighs 160 pounds. Anyone with information is being asked to call Crimestoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) is collecting money for the grandmother of the two girls who were left orphans by their mother's shooting. Those interested in contributing can make a check out to Chinese Caring Foundation and send it to Liu's office at 135-27 38th Ave., Suite 388, Flushing, NY 11354.Reach reporter Cynthia Koons by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 141.
