A Queens couple accused of shaking their infant daughter to death rejected a plea bargain this morning, saying though their lawyer that they “look forward” to going to trial.
Hang Bin Li, 28, and his common-law wife Ying Li, 27, were arrested months after their daughter, Annie, died in October 2007 from brain damage which doctors say were sustained from Shaken Baby Syndrome.
Hang Bin Li, 28 has been locked up at Rikers Island for four years and rejected a plea bargain that would have allowed him off with time served. He faces life in prison if convicted at trial on murder charges and Ying Li is looking at up to 25 years if convicted of manslaughter.
“You want to proceed with a trial and reject the offer?” Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard Buchter asked Hang Bin Li.
“Yes,” he sad through a Mandarin interpreter.
If baby Annie’s father accepted the prosecutor’s offer then Ying Li, 22, would have been offered a plea deal as well.
“We look forward to going to trial,” said Ying Li’s attorney Murray Singer, who along with attorney Cedric Ashley intend to prove that the two-month old suffered from osteogenesis imperfecta, a condition that can cause weak bones.
Jury selection begins October 15.