On the evening of December 26, 2019, Antonio Espana-Estrada, a 37-year-old Hispanic male, was fatally shot as he left his workplace in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The incident occurred around 5:25 p.m. in the parking lot of J&P Trading, a food distributor on State Street where Espana-Estrada had been a long-time employee. As he was walking from the building, a man emerged from a minivan and shot him multiple times.
The suspect was identified as 28-year-old Chee Kong Yang of St. Paul.
According to witnesses, Yang had been arguing with his girlfriend inside the minivan just moments before the shooting. After getting out of the vehicle, he approached Espana-Estrada and fired, striking him in the torso. Witnesses reported that after initially moving away, Yang returned and shot Espana-Estrada again as he lay on the ground. Espana-Estrada was transported to Regions Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Following the shooting, Yang fled the scene in the minivan with his girlfriend. His escape was short-lived, as he was soon involved in a hit-and-run accident less than two miles away. Shortly after, police received a report of a woman down in the street, who was identified as Yang's girlfriend; she had sustained a non-critical injury. The abandoned minivan was discovered crashed through a fence at a nearby cemetery. A passerby who saw Yang fleeing the crashed vehicle directed police to his location, and he was taken into custody.
Yang was subsequently charged with second-degree murder. While it was established that Yang was a former co-worker of Espana-Estrada's, having worked at J&P Trading three to four years prior, a clear motive for the killing was not immediately apparent to investigators or the victim's family, who described him as a friendly and caring individual.
