Five teens in New York accused of killing deliveryman for free food

NEW YORK (AP) -- Five teen-agers looking for a free meal placed a $60 order for Chinese food to an abandoned house, ambushed the restaurant owner who made the delivery and beat him to death with their fists and a brick, New York police said.

Afterward, the four boys and one girl fled to one of their homes to eat the food, leaving behind the battered restaurant owner, along with the $600 and another bag of food he was carrying.

"He was killed without provocation and without reason," Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said Wednesday. "It was a shocking crime which leaves us all shaking our heads as to why these kids would do what they are accused of doing."

The teen-agers, ages 14 to 17, were charged with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon in the death of Sheng Jin Liu, 44.

They admitted "they were going to forcibly take the food from the victim," Detective Douglas Diesu said in a criminal complaint.

Police said one of the teen-agers called the Golden Wok restaurant Friday night, ordering General Tso's chicken, chicken and broccoli, shrimp lo mein and shrimp egg foo yung.

When Liu arrived with two bags of food at the vacant house on a dead-end street about a mile from the restaurant, four boys jumped from the bushes, put a sheet over his head and beat him with their fists, police said. The 14-year-old then struck him in the head with a brick, police said.

Liu's wife called police when he did not return to the restaurant within 15 minutes. Police were led to the teens by tracing the cellular telephone call used to place the food order.

The teen-agers, all friends, were arrested Tuesday. They were described as being from middle-class families in the borough of Queens and having no criminal records.

According to friends and neighbors, Liu came to the United States about 10 years ago from Fuzhou, in southern China, and is the father of two teen-agers. He worked for several years at other restaurants before opening three takeout restaurants.

"He was a nice man, very hardworking," said Thelma Grandison, one of Liu's regular customers. "I don't know why they had to kill him."

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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