Chinese national accused of killing 25-year-old posts $2M bail
Mar 4, 2013, 5:19 AM | Updated: 2:39 pm
King County prosecutors are worried that a 19-year-old Chinese national accused of vehicular homicide will flee the country now that he’s posted $2 million bail.
Yichun Xu is accused of speeding November 10, 2012 and running through a stop sign, killing 25-year-old Brenda Gomez-Zapata and injuring three others in her car.
The man was released from jail after a hearing Friday in which his mother brought a cashier’s check for $2 million. Xu’s attorney says the jail actually gave back Xu’s passport, which the court ordered he surrender.
“So, if he was intending to flee, or leave the country, if he was intending to — as some people say — allow justice to be bought here so he could flee, he would have done that,” said Xu’s defense attorney Scott Leist. “But, in fact, he didn’t.”
Prosecutors are still concerned, saying that other Chinese nationals have fled the jurisdiction to avoid prosecution. Leist says Xu has no intention of leaving the country.
“So, I’d like the community to understand and take a breath and know he’s not going anywhere.”
Xu is in the U.S. on a student visa while attending South Puget Sound Community College. Leist says his client is going back to school.
