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 The five, all from the New York borough of Queens, are the last of
37 defendants from the Pi Delta Psi fraternity to be charged in
connection with the death of Chun “Michael” Deng, 19, of Oakland
Park, N.Y., at a rented house in the Pocono Mountains region of
Pennsylvania.
Most of the 37 are students or former students at Baruch College in
Manhattan. Three were members of the same fraternity at St. Johns
University in Queens.
Facing arraignment on Thursday are Charles Lai, 24, of Queens
Village; Kenny Kwan, 26, of Astoria; Raymond Lam, 22, and Daniel Li,
22, both of Kew Garden Hills; and Sheldon Wong, 23, of Queens.
Prosecutors in Monroe County have said they were saving the
defendants facing the most serious charges for last.
Each of the five is charged with third-degree murder. If convicted,
they face a sentence of more than 10 years in prison, with the final
number to be determined by Pennsylvania’s complex sentencing
guidelines.
The defendants are also charged with between 13 to 18 other
offenses, including assault, participating in an attempted cover-up,
hazing, and in Lai’s case, drug violations.
At the arraignment in Pocono Pines, Magisterial District Judge
Richard Claypool will read the charges to each defendant and set
bail. No plea will be entered at the hearing.
Deng died of brain and other injuries inflicted during a pledging
ritual known as the “glass ceiling,” police say. Blindfolded and
wearing a 30-pound pack, he was tackled repeatedly and slammed to
the ground, they say.
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The pack was supposed to represent the weight of Pi Delta Psi, which
describes itself as an Asian-American cultural fraternity. The
“glass ceiling” gauntlet is intended to symbolize the difficulties
Asian-Americans experience in battling prejudice.
The rented house where Deng was found dead is about 96 miles west of
New York City.
With Thursday's arraignments tomorrow, all 37 defendants will have
been formally charged. Pennsylvania law then provides for a
preliminary hearing, where the prosecution presents the main points
of its case to prove the arrest was justified.
Nine of the 37 defendants were scheduled for hearings on Oct. 16,
but eight waived the hearing, and the ninth was granted a
postponement.
More hearings are scheduled for Friday, and some or all of those may
be waived.
Preliminary hearings for thee final six - the five defendants being
arraigned Thursday, plus the one postponed on Oct. 16 - are set for
early November.
(Reporting by David DeKok; Editing by Frank McGurty and Eric Walsh)
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