Quantcast

Flushing woman indicted following deadly knife attack at neighborhood day care

Flushing woman indicted following deadly knife attack at neighborhood day care
Photo by Carlotta Mohamed
By Carlotta Mohamed

A Flushing woman was indicted last week following an unprovoked knife attack of three newborns and two adults at a Flushing day care center in the early morning hours of Sept. 21, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

The defendant, Yufen Wang, 52, of Cherry Avenue in Flushing, was indicted Nov. 2 with four counts of second-degree attempted murder, four counts of first-degree assault, one count of second-degree assault, and one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Wang was ordered to return to court Nov. 16 by Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice Suzanne Melendez.

Wang, who worked as a caregiver, allegedly stabbed a fellow caregiver seven times in the leg, face, and chest as she was feeding an infant at around 3 a.m. in the kitchen of a three-story residence located at 43-67 161 St.

Wang also stabbed the infant who the 63-year-old woman was feeding at the time, before proceeding to harm others in the house, according to Brown.

Meng Xu, 31, a father to one of the children in the center, woke up to the sounds of Wang slashing and stabbing two baby girls. In his efforts to try and stop the knife-wielding woman, Xu was stabbed in the leg and bitten on the wrist, according to Brown.

“The defendant carried out a brutal attack on several individuals including defenseless, innocent children,” the district attorney said.

A 22-day-old girl injured during the melee suffered lacerations to her face, chest and ear. A 33-day-old infant girl sustained injuries to her abdomen and back. The youngest of the victims, just 13-days-old, suffered knife wounds to her abdomen, face and chest, Brown said.

According to Brown, police recovered a knife on the first floor, which was used by Wang to attack the victims. A second knife was found in the basement, where the defendant was found with self-inflicted wounds to her neck and wrist.

If convicted, Wang faces between five and 25 years in prison.

“Her unspeakable actions will not go unpunished, and she will now face a lengthy term of incarceration as result of the nature of the crimes committed,” Brown said.

Reach reporter Carlotta Mohamed by e-mail at cmohamed@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4526.