Pictured: Chinese student, 25, accused of stabbing to death Tiananmen Square activist lawyer, 66, when he said he would stop working with her appears in court charged with his murder

• Xiaoning Zhang, 25, is said to have stabbed Jinjin Li, 66, to death on Monday in New York City where he worked as an immigration lawyer 
• The murder took place on 39th Avenue near 138th St in Flushing, Queens, at about 11.40 am 
• Xiaoning Zhang, 25, was taken into custody and faces a murder charge and weapon possession
• She is said to have attacked Li during a prior visit to his office last week, after the student was told by Li that he would not help her apply for asylum 

A Chinese student has appeared in court charged with murdering an activist lawyer when he said he would stop working with her by stabbing him to death.   

Xiaoning Zhang, 25, is said to have stabbed Jinjin Li, 66, to death on Monday in New York City where he worked as an immigration lawyer.  

The murder took place on 39th Avenue near 138th St in Flushing, Queens, at about 11.40 am, before Li was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital where he died from wounds to neck and chest later in the same day.  

Xiaoning Zhang, 25, was taken into custody and faces a murder charge and weapon possession. 

Xiaoning Zhang (pictured at Queens county court) , 25, is said to have stabbed Jinjin Li, 66, to death on Monday in New York City where he worked as an immigration lawyer

The murder took place on 39th Avenue near 138th St in Flushing, Queens, at about 11.40 am, before Li (pictured) was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital where he died from wounds to neck and chest later in the same day

Xiaoning Zhang, 25, is led away at Queens county criminal court where she was remanded pending following her arraignment for the murder of attorney Jim Li

She is said to have attacked Li during a prior visit to his office last week, after the student – who arrived in Los Angeles on an F1 visa last year – was told by Li that he would not help her apply for asylum.

Zhang is said to have claimed that she was raped by Beijing police, and that her life was in danger if she was forced to return home.   

Chuang Chuang Chen, the CEO of the China Democracy Party, and lawyer Wei Zhu, a friend of Li’s, both told The New York Daily News that the killing might have stemmed from Li’s refusal to take Zhang on as a client due to her possibly having mental health issues.

‘He even told the police not to arrest her. “She is young. Let her have a future.” He was a great man,’ Zhu said. ‘He was a free union counsel at Tiananmen. He was arrested and detained for over a year and a half.’ 

Zhang came to the U.S. in August on an F-1 student visa to go to school in Los Angeles, Chen told the Daily News. 

Li was murdered at his office on Queens, two days after Zhang had caused a scene at his law practice and fled from police

Xiaoning Zhang, 25, at Queens county criminal court where she was arraigned for the murder of attorney Jim Li

‘But she didn’t attend. She came straight here. She came directly and applied for asylum. She claimed she was raped by police in Beijing who sent her to a mental facility,’ he added. 

Li’s friends said that the lawyer, who rarely refused a case, didn’t want to help Zhang after she made a scene on Friday during a visit to his office. Police was even called to the scene before she ran away. 

‘That probably triggered her anger. Today she came with a knife, with the intent to kill him,’ Zhu alleged.  

NYPD officers were seen in front of Zhang’s apartment building on Monday evening as they waited for a search warrant to enter, possibly leading to motives behind the murder.

‘He was one of the best men I have ever known,’ Zhu said of Li, who was studying to become a lawyer at Peking University during the Tiananmen protests. ‘If he hadn’t left China he could have been a famous lawyer, he could have been a judge.’ 

Li, who also went by the first name Jim, was often quoted in recent years by news organizations looking for insight or commentary on the Chinese dissident community or on relations between China and the West. 

She is said to have attacked Li (pictured) during a prior visit to his office last week, after the student – who arrived in Los Angeles on an F1 visa last year – was told by Li that he would not help her apply for asylum 

Li was a Tiananmen Square protester back in 1989, and was jailed just days after the June 4th massacre before seeking asylum to come to the U.S. in 1993

As an immigration lawyer, he also represented some Chinese expatriates living in the U.S. who were considered fugitives by that country.

Prior to his imprisonment for protesting, Li had been a legal adviser to an independent labor union that had challenged China’s government on worker rights.

‘I can’t believe it. She not only destroyed his life, but the hope of our community,’ Zhu told the newspaper. ‘He wanted to realize democracy in China. He will never realize that dream.’   

Li, whose last message on Instagram was one of support towards freeing Ukraine, took part in the six-week protest movements at Tiananmen Square and on the streets of Beijing in 1989. 

Back then, he worked as a legal counsel for the Workers Autonomous Federation union.

He was arrested just days following the June 4 massacre, when hundreds, if not thousands of innocent protestors were killed in the square and in nearby areas by the Chinese army.   

As of today, no precise figures have been confirmed by the Chinese Communist Party, and estimates vary from hundreds to several thousands, both military and civilians. 

As a consequence of hid participation in these protests, Li was jailed for 22 months before moving to the U.S. as an asylum seeker in 1993.

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