A Flushing woman has been charged with murder for the fatal stabbing of a well-known immigration attorney. Xiaoning Zhang, 25, of Kissena Boulevard, was taken into custody at the scene on Monday, March 14 for allegedly stabbing lawyer Jim Li, 66, of Great Neck, Long Island, inside an office at his Flushing law firm, according to the NYPD.
Police from the 109th Precinct in Flushing responded to a 911 call of an assault in progress inside a commercial building at 136-56 39th Ave. in Flushing and discovered Li unconscious and unresponsive with stab wounds to his body and neck inside an office.
Sources familiar with the ongoing investigation indicated the homicide may have resulted from an ongoing lawyer-client dispute.
EMS responded to the crime scene and transported the victim to Elmhurst Hospital Center where he was pronounced dead, according to the NYPD.
Li had reportedly survived two years in a Chinese prison after taking part in the 1989 student protests at Tiananmen Square. He sought asylum in the United States in 1993 and started his firm, Jim Li & Associates in 1998, according to the firm’s website,
Additional reporting by Robert Pozarycki.
