Distraught relatives of a Brooklyn mother and her four young children slaughtered by a Chinese-immigrant cousin lashed into the accused killer in court Wednesday, screaming, “Why did you kill her?” and “How could you do that?” One family member collapsed on the courtroom floor and had to be taken away by ambulance.
Mingdong Chen, 26, was charged with hacking to death his cousin’s wife and kids in October but was ruled mentally unfit for trial. He was in Brooklyn Supreme Court Wednesday because the psychiatric hospital he’s being held in recently ruled him mentally competent.
The husband and father of the victims, Yi Lin Zhuo, remained stone-faced as he stared down Chen for the first time.
“How could you do that?” his mother and sister wailed in Chinese the instant the handcuffed Chen walked into court, according to Chinese speakers in court.
Court officers stood in front of the emotionless Chen as Zhuo’s mother, Yichai Chen, hysterically collapsed to the courtroom floor, screaming and kicking her legs.
The husband’s weeping sister, Hongjin Zhuo, comforted Chen as EMTs inserted an IV and attempted to calm her down before taking her to a waiting ambulance.
Both women screamed and wailed in the courthouse hallway as emergency workers tried to calm them.
After the brief court proceeding, the slain woman’s mother, Meiying Li, also became overwhelmed with emotion and collapsed near the courthouse elevators.
She screamed and wailed until EMTs strapped her into a chair, where she beat her chest with a free hand as she was given oxygen before being moved downstairs to a waiting ambulance.
Outside court, the husband — who lost his wife, Qiaozhen Li, and their 9-, 7-, 5- and 1-year-old children in the Oct. 26 meat-cleaver rampage — was too emotional to speak.
“What could I say?” he said when asked for comment.
Chen was brought back to court Wednesday after Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center deemed him fit to proceed.
“The court is in possession of a report that indicates the defendant is competent is proceed,” said Judge Vincent Del Giudice.
Defense attorney Danielle Eaddy said she would have a psychiatrist examine Chen.
Chen will next appear in court June 24.
“If the defendant is found competent, I would like to move the case forward with alacrity,” the judge said.