Second teen arrested in connection with the murder of an NYC mom who was defending her husband | Law Enforcement Today

MANHATTAN, NY - On Friday, March 21st, a second teen was arrested for his connection in the fatal shooting of a 57-year-old woman who was trying to defend her husband and son from two teenagers who were attempting to rob them back in September 2024.

According to the New York Post, 19-year-old Joshua Bell has been charged with murder, robbery, burglary, and criminal possession of a weapon in the September 9, 2024 murder of Ying Zhu Liu. Police said the woman was callously shot in the face in the hallway of the family's Lower Manhattan condo building at 44 Market Street.

The violence unfolded around 11:00 p.m. when the two men wearing ski masks followed Liu's husband, 61-year-old Shen Yan, into the condo's elevator around 10:50 p.m. and pulled a handgun on him. The two suspects snatched Yan's Samsung phone and $100 cash.

When the elevator doors opened on the 8th floor, where Yan lived with his family, the dad saw his 32-year-old son, Ling Rong Yan, waiting for him in the hallway. The dad said to his son, "Stay back, they have a gun." The son tried to intervene, only to be pistol whipped causing him to fracture his face and nose.

That's when Liu, who heard all the commotion, stepped out of the apartment to come to her husband and son's aid. One of the suspects raised a handgun and fired a single shot into Liu's face from three feet away. She fell to the floor with blood gushing out of her mouth and head. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Bell, who was wearing a white T-shirt over a cream colored shirt and shorts, and black sandals with socks, said nothing as detectives led him out of the 5th Precinct stationhouse on Friday, March 31st, nearly six months after the shooting. Bell, who was arrested in August of 2023 for robbery, was awaiting his arraignment hearing Friday evening.

The other suspect, 16-year-old Dante Schaller, was arrested 10 days after the murder. Police said he is facing the same charges as Bell. The Manhattan's District Attorney's Office confirmed that Schaller, who turned 16 just days before the shooting, will be prosecuted as an adult. At the time of the shooting, he had an open felony case for assaulting a police officer.

According to the New York Post, during Schaller's arraignment hearing, he pleaded not guilty. Schaller and Bell were captured on surveillance video from a nearby deli wearing the same clothing they wore shortly before the murder, but without their ski masks on. 

Schaller was identified by a red hoodie he allegedly wore during the murder, which was later found by investigators when they searched his home. Police also discovered one live 9mm round at his home and they also recovered a 9mm shell from a step in the stairwell where the killing took place.