Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Lawyer Hopes Video Will Exonerate Chinatown Teen Accused of Murder

By DNAinfo Staff on December 7, 2010 6:28am

Victor Fong,18, is on trial for murder in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Victor Fong,18, is on trial for murder in Manhattan Supreme Court.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/John Marshall Mantel

By Shayna Jacobs

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A teen without a criminal history will try to convince a jury not to send him to prison at trial this week for a 2009 Chinatown murder, citing video evidence that shows he was on the opposite side of the street at the time of the fatal slashing, his lawyer said.

At the exact moment that prosecutors say 18-year-old Nelson Pena was stabbed to death in front of the Sun Yat Sen Intermediate School at 100 Hester Street last November, Victor Fong, then 17, could be seen in video footage on the north side of the street fending off an attack by one of Pena's friends, according to Fong's lawyer Robert Brown. Brown said the surveillance video came from a grocery store on the street.

Nelson Pena, 18, was stabbed to death in front of 100 Hester Street in November 2009.
Nelson Pena, 18, was stabbed to death in front of 100 Hester Street in November 2009.
View Full Caption

Fong and two friends were walking home around 6 p.m. after their tutoring shift at a Henry Street community center when they crossed in front of the security camera, Brown said.

After a few moments, the trio reappears on screen, chased by a husky Hispanic male who can be seen on camera beating someone with a cane — all while the deadly attack on the murder victim was unfolding out of the camera's view a few yards away, according to Brown.

"Forget about proof beyond a reasonable doubt — factually he just didn't do it," said Brown, who hopes the video will exonerate his client, a college-bound honors student prior to the incident.

"Nelson Pena was killed and it's a shame, but Victor Fong didn't kill him," Brown added.

Prosecutors have told a very different version of the story, saying Fong stabbed Pena in the chest as Pena left his job at Foot Locker. The incident was part of a run-in between a group of young Hispanic men and Fong and two of his friends, prosecutors said.

Fong is also charged with attempted murder for allegedly stabbing Vincent Rivera, the man Brown claimed is seen on video attacking his client with a cane. Fong's two friends have not been located since the attack.

But prosecutors have revealed that there are cracks in their case against Fong.

"We have a weak case on the murder," Assistant District Attorney Steven Nuzzi said at a bench conference with Brown and the judge last week, adding it is "probably true" that the murder evidence is lacking. 

The ADA also consented to Fong's release on $100,000 bail on July 14, a rare occurrence for a murder suspect. Nuzzi also cited concerns about witnesses with wavering accounts.

"The new evidence that's been provided to me cast doubt on the [DA's] claim that the defendant was the perpetrator of the homicide," Nuzzi said at the time. But Nuzzi defended the DA's decision to move forward with the case, saying that Fong was still "the only person on the video who has a knife."

A spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said the office does not comment on pending cases.

Pena, whose family could not be reached to comment on the video, was hoping to start a new life in Pennsylvania away from the troubles he faced in the city, his relatives told DNAinfo last year. They did not elaborate on the nature of his problems at the time.

Fong, the son of Chinese immigrants, was raised in Chinatown two blocks from where Pena lived with his Dominican and Puerto Rican family.

Fong, who was an honors student, tutor and community volunteer before his arrest, finished a high school equivalency program "at the top of his class" while he was held at Rikers Island for eight months before he was released on bail, according to Brown.

Opening arguments in Fong's trial are scheduled to begin Tuesday morning in Manhattan Supreme Court.