In the fall of 2021, a promising 24-year-old woman named Jamie Liang tragically lost her life in a violent encounter that unfolded in a Brooklyn apartment. On the evening of October 13, Liang was with her partner, Jenny Li, at Li's home in the Bensonhurst neighborhood. The night took a horrifying turn when Yvonne Wu, an off-duty New York Police Department officer and Li's former girlfriend, confronted the two women.
Wu, who had been a police officer for five years, used her NYPD-issued
service weapon to shoot both women. Jamie Liang was struck in the chest and was later pronounced dead at Maimonides Hospital. Jenny Li was shot in the torso but survived her injuries. Following the shooting, police officers responded to 911 calls of shots fired at the residence and took Yvonne Wu into custody at the scene.
The investigation that followed revealed the incident stemmed from a personal dispute, reportedly a love triangle involving the three women. Wu was subsequently charged with murder and attempted murder. Initially, she pleaded not guilty to the charges. However, in June 2024, Yvonne Wu pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for the death of Jamie Liang and second-degree attempted murder for the shooting of Jenny Li.
As a result of her guilty plea, the disgraced former police officer was sentenced to a total of 27 years in prison. The sentence consists of 22 years for the manslaughter charge and a consecutive five-year term for the attempted murder charge. In addition to the criminal proceedings, the family of Jamie Liang filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of New York and Yvonne Wu. The lawsuit alleged that the NYPD was aware of Wu's psychological issues and should have taken away her service weapon, thereby preventing the tragic outcome.
