Murder over 20-year grudge lands Chinese immigrant in prison for 40 years to life

August 2, 2017 By Ahmed Jallow Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Wu Long Chen was sentenced to 40 years in prison by Justice Neil Firetog in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Tuesday for the murder of Ying Guan Chen. Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn DA’s Office

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A man on Tuesday was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for fatally shooting another man after a Sunset Park wedding because of a decades-old feud that started in China.

Wu Long Chen, 46, of the Lower East Side in Manhattan, stalked and fatally shot Ying Guan Chen, 68, on Dec. 7, 2015, near Seventh Avenue in Brooklyn. The two had attended a wedding reception at the Golden Imperial Palace restaurant in Sunset Park prior to the murder.

“Our heart hurt as if it were ripped apart,” the victim’s family said in statement that was read to the court by a translator. In the statement, the family also pleaded with the judge to protect them from Wu Long Chen, who stood quietly in an orange jumpsuit.

“This was a particularly egregious and senseless murder — an elderly man who had done nothing wrong was shot in cold blood over an old dispute oceans away of which he had no part,” said Acting District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. “This defendant was caught on video stalking, following and, finally, shooting this innocent victim to death in the street. Today’s lengthy sentence is just, given the horrific nature of this crime.”

On the night of the killing, a surveillance video shows Wu Long Chen following the victim as he was leaving the wedding reception and shooting him in the head, chest and arm near Seventh Avenue and 61st Street, according to officials.

Ying Guan Chen managed to walk into a nearby Popeyes restaurant, where he collapsed. He was rushed to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, where he was pronounced dead, officials said.

Defendant Wu Long Chen, and the victim’s sons feuded over the shooter’s family constructing another floor on their building that hovered over the victim’s family home. This, according to Wu Long Chen, led to a physical altercation between the two families that left one of his relatives seriously injured.

The defendant harbored a grudge — for 20 years. Since he couldn’t find the victim’s sons, he targeted Ying Guan Chen decades later when he ran into him in New York City, according to testimony.

When asked to give a statement, Wu Long Chen denied any involvement and said he would appeal. “I want to appeal, I have nothing to do with this case,” he said through a translator.

Wu long Chen fled New York after the shooting and was captured in Laredo, Texas on Dec. 31, 2015 while trying to flee to Mexico, prosecutors said.

Supreme Court Justice Neil Firetog presided over the case.