Details Emerge in Abduction, Slaying of Deliveryman

After emigrating from China, the Zhang family chose to operate a Chinese restaurant in Fredericksburg about five years ago because, police said, their relatives had encountered problems with crime in more urban areas.

But Yong Hui Zhang, 24, was abducted July 3 while delivering food orders from his parents' restaurant, police said. His body was not found until three days later, more than 100 miles away in Sussex County. He had been stabbed to death.

Purchases made with Zhang's credit card at a gas station and a Wal-Mart led police to two suspects, Jermaine L. Montgomery, 34, of Courtland and his girlfriend, Marcey O. White, 36, of Virginia Beach. They have been charged with abducting Zhang, and Fredericksburg Commonwealth's Attorney Charles S. Sharp said they will be charged with killing him if it is determined that Zhang was slain within city limits.

In that case, Sharp said he would likely seek the death penalty. Sharp has scheduled a news conference tomorrow to discuss how he plans to proceed.

The slaying "was horrific," said Natatia Bledsoe, a spokeswoman for Fredericksburg police. "It stretches the imagination why anybody would do something like this to this young man. . . . This is not something we are accustomed to dealing with."

The night he disappeared, Zhang left the restaurant about 9:20 p.m. to make three deliveries, one to 202 Charles St., an abandoned apartment building less than three miles away. Montgomery and White placed their order by phone, giving the Charles Street address, police said.

When Zhang arrived, he pulled his bronze 2004 Nissan Sentra around to the back of the building, largely out of sight from the street. He was ambushed and driven away in his own car, police said. Zhang had less than $50 with him, police said.

Police later found blood outside Apartment H of the complex -- likely from a head injury Zhang sustained -- as well as in the area where the car had been parked. One of Zhang's shoes also was found.

About 10:45 that night, the couple entered a Shell station in Spotsylvania County and used Zhang's credit card to buy cigarettes and beer. In a surveillance video, Montgomery appears calm at the register, police said.

"He was standing there for quite a long time, chitchatting with the clerk," Bledsoe said.

On July 5, the couple stopped at a Wal-Mart in Franklin, Va., where they made two purchases with Zhang's card about 5 p.m. They were arrested at the store and charged with abduction, carjacking, credit card theft and conspiracy to commit those offenses -- charges that collectively can bring a sentence of up to life in prison plus 60 years, Sharp said. The two are being held in the Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond and are due in court Aug. 7 for a hearing.

Bledsoe said the two did not resist arrest but would not talk to police. Police found Zhang's body early July 6 down an embankment in a wooded area. An autopsy revealed that he died from a stab wound to the chest. Zhang's abandoned car was found near his body.