Tong Sheng Zhang gets 14 years for Murder

Fourteen years; that’s the sentence handed down to forty-two year old Tong Sheng Zhang after his murder conviction today. Zhang had pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of Manslaughter and was facing a life sentence for fatally shooting his friend, Chi Cheong Chan, over money in March of last year. It was around five p.m., when Zhang stormed Chan’s business, The Aluminum and Glass Factory on the Northern Highway, to collect a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars he claims was owed to him. But in the heat of the confrontation, Zhang lost his temper and shot Chan in the hand. While Zhang claims he did not intend to kill his friend, the bullet penetrated Chan’s left side causing irreparable damage to his organs and he died three days later. Chan’s wife, Ivy, was also shot in the back during the incident. Zhang’s attorney, Ellis Arnold told the court today that his client claims he was up against five persons when the ordeal unfolded and drew his weapon to defend himself. Five character witnesses also spoke on Zhang’s behalf, describing him as a loving and hard working husband and father. When he took the stand, Zhang expressed regret for his actions and begged the court for leniency and to consider that he has a wife and six children. Justice Michelle Arana acknowledged his good record, character witnesses and honesty, but before handing down her sentence. She told Zhang that if he had thought of his family on the day of the incident, he could have avoided this entire situation. Arana says that he should have gone to court to collect his money from Chan, instead of ending up there for his murder. His sentence is retroactive to March twenty-seventh, 2008.