Posted on: October 21, 2024 08:43 AM

Share : Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp

Queens woman sentenced to twenty seven years in prison for manslaughter and battery

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Haiyan Deng was sentenced to 27 years in prison for killing a man in her Flushing apartment and a related burglary in September 2021. First responders found 26-year-old Justin Li in the defendant’s bed, dead from a single gunshot wound to the head. The fatality followed an incident at the victim’s Bayside home days earlier that led to a separate charge of burglary.

District Attorney Katz said: “The defendant took the life of a young father and then fled in the victim’s car, hoping to escape. Thanks to the work of our law enforcement partners, the defendant was apprehended and extradited to New York where she pleaded guilty to her crimes. Nothing can reverse the defendant’s actions, but hopefully today’s sentence will provide some comfort to the victim’s loved ones.”

Deng, 34, of 39th Avenue in Flushing, pleaded guilty last month to manslaughter in the first degree and burglary in the second degree.

Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant sentenced Deng today to a total of 27 years in prison — 22 years for the manslaughter charge and five years for the burglary charge to be served consecutively.

According to the charges and investigation, On September 11, 2021, at approximately 7:40 p.m., Deng unlawfully entered Li’s Bayside residence and confronted his wife. Deng received a trespass summons and was subsequently charged with burglary in the first degree.

On September 19, 2021, at approximately 9 p.m., first responders conducted a wellness check at Deng’s residence in Flushing after the victim’s wife reported that he did not come home.

Upon arriving at the location, first responders found the victim unresponsive in Deng’s bed. He was bleeding from an apparent single gunshot to the head. No one else was in the residence.

No shell casings were found but a fired bullet was recovered from the mattress on the bed.

On September 18, 2021, at approximately 5:40 a.m., video footage showed Deng and Li arrive at her residence in his car and enter the building.

Deng left the building alone at approximately 7:50 a.m. carrying multiple bags. She entered Li’s car and drove off.

Deng was apprehended in New Mexico on September 22, 2021, after the car she was driving broke down on the side of a road. A search of the disabled vehicle conducted by New Mexico State Police yielded personal property belonging to the victim and a loaded revolver that was a ballistic match to the bullet recovered from the defendant’s bedroom.

Deng was extradited to New York to face charges
 

From Queens DA's Office.