By Jonathan Mummolo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 13, 2008
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.
There is no apparent connection between Zhang and his assailants, police said, and the motive remains unclear.
"It appears they devised this plan: 'We need a car, so let's call a delivery guy. He's going to have a car,' " Bledsoe said. "But again, we don't know why they took him. There's a lot of questions that are up in the air right now."
Since taking over the China Express Restaurant on Jefferson Davis Highway, the Zhangs, known throughout the 11-square-mile city for their good food and friendly service, had closed the seven-day-a-week business just once before, police said -- for Yong Hui's sister's wedding.
But Wednesday, the lights inside the red-roofed restaurant were dark, and the doors were locked. Outside, dozens of bouquets of flowers were at the entrance, one with Chinese writing on it.
Nancy Kingcaid, 37, of Fredericksburg said she lived below the Zhangs in a rented house until the family moved about two years ago. She recalled Yong Hui Zhang as a good-hearted person who once helped jump-start her car.
"I didn't even have to ask," Kingcaid said. "I was outside cranking with the hood open, and he just came right out."
Attorneys for Montgomery and White did not return phone calls.
William L. Sebrell of Courtland said that Montgomery is related to his wife and that they raised him since he was 2 years old, although they did not legally adopt him. He said Montgomery is an Army veteran, was working as a welder in Suffolk and had been in jail. But Sebrell said he did not believe that Montgomery was capable of abducting and killing anyone.
"No! Ain't no way that he could have," Sebrell said. "He was brought up in church. He's an intelligent young man. He just got with the wrong people."
Since the slaying, the Zhang family has declined all media requests for comment, police said, and they were arranging their son's funeral last week in Maryland, where they have relatives.
"This has absolutely ruined this family," said a police official who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case. "It has absolutely torn them apart."
Staff researcher Meg Smith and staff writer Tom Jackman contributed to this report.
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