NC Chinese restaurant owner was shot dead on his driveway. Defense: He wasn’t there.
For five days, federal prosecutors interviewed nearly three dozen people and entered hundreds of pieces of evidence to convince a jury that Maurice Owen Wiley Jr. participated in the failed robbery three years ago that killed Chinese restaurant owner Hong Zheng.
Prosecutors have:
▪ Outlined records that put Wiley’s phone near the South Roxboro Street restaurant China Wok and businessman’s home in the Hope Valley Farms North neighborhood during the attempted robbery.
▪ Shown surveillance video of the SUVs that Wiley rented to case China Wok and linked him to repairs of a rented Lincoln MKX after Zheng’s wife shot a window and a door during the attempted robbery.
▪ Called accomplice Hykeem Cox to testify, who identified Wiley as driver and a shooter on the rainy Sunday night in April 2018.
On Monday jurors finally heard Wiley’s defense: He wasn’t there.
In closing arguments, attorney John Bryson suggested his client loaned the rented Lincoln to his cousin Charles Winfor Daniels, one of the four others charged in the case.
Cox was trying to find a car so they could rob the business, Bryson said, so he told Daniels to ask Wiley.
Wiley, who has two phones, left one in the car so his cousin could listen to music on the infotainment system, Bryson suggested.
Cox, who admitted his gun fired the shot that killed Zheng, has a history of making deals to get out of trouble, Bryson said, and conned the police and FBI into giving him a deal.
“Is Maurice Wiley his next victim?” Bryson asked the jury, who had just 15 minutes to deliberate Monday afternoon and resumed Tuesday morning.
Wiley, 31, faces four federal charges in the attempted robbery and killing of Zheng, who was shot and died in his driveway on Carlton Crossing Drive. Four others have pleaded guilty to related charges but haven’t been sentenced.
What the prosecution said
In closing arguments, U.S. Assistant Attorney Graham Green outlined a scenario in which Wiley rented the car and drove i the night Zheng, a 42-year-old father of two, was killed.
Wiley also shot into Zheng’s minivan during the robbery, Green said.
Initially Wiley rented a red Ford Explorer and used it to case China Wok two days before the attempted robbery, Green said.
Before the shooting, Wiley exchanged the Ford for the white Lincoln MKX, which was caught on surveillance video at the China Wok shopping center minutes before the shooting around 10:20 p.m. Neighbors also saw the SUV fleeing the scene after Zheng’s wife, Shirley Chan, returned fire against the robbers.
Cox testified that Wiley drove the LIncoln the night of the shooting and he and Wiley shot into the minivan Zheng drove.
Cox is a robber and a co-conspirator, Green said, and he asked the jury to weigh his testimony with the other evidence.
What the defense said
Bryson said it makes more sense that Wiley, who was a member of the Eight Trey Gangster Crips gang, sat on his cousin’s front porch while the others, who were all in a Bloods gang, did the robbery.
Bryson also questioned whether four of the men could fit in the Lincoln’s back seat.
Mostly, however, Bryson focused on the credibility of Cox, 24.
Ten days before the attempted robbery, Cox was essentially sentenced to probation after he testified against co-defendants in a 2017 robbery case in which he and two others were charged with robbing a strip club.
“This is how Hykeem Cox learns that you can go out and commit crimes and really not get punished,” Bryson said.
Bryson also pointed to Cox’s changing story about the attempted robbery.
Initially Cox told police he didn’t have a gun and Wiley was the only one who shot into Zheng’s minivan.
Later he admitted to shooting into the minivan and his bullet killing Zheng after police said evidence didn’t match his story.
Key testimony
The five-day trial started with emotional testimony from Chan, followed by her two children.
On April 15, 2018, the couple returned to their home. It was raining hard, and Zheng dropped his wife off at the sidewalk to the walk to the house.
Inside, their two children waited as part of a nightly routine the family had established after four previous robberies and break-ins.
The couple’s daughter, then 14, looked out from a window above the driveway. Their son, then 17, waited by the front door, ready to hand his mother a 9 mm handgun and a magazine, according to court testimony.
As Chan walked to the door, masked gunmen started shooting. Her son gave her the gun, but she slipped and it jammed. When Chan started shooting, the men fled in a car damaged in the gunfire. Zheng had been shot and was unresponsive in the minivan.
Other key testimony centered on the SUVs that Riley rented to case China Wok and the home. Police found Semaj Maleek Bradley’s and Darryl Bradford’s blood in the car, along with glass from a broken window and internal damage from a bullet.
A Durham woman initially lied and told police the car was damaged sitting on Wiggens Street, but she later said Wiley was driving it. An Avis rental agent also testified he made false statements to police about Wiley and the vehicle.
Cox, who was shot during the attempted robbery and was arrested after police found the bullet in his wrist, said he, Wiley, Daniels, Bradford and Bradley had targeted the China Wok owners because they were Asian and the men believed they didn’t use banks.
Cox said Bradford got shot during the attempted robbery. Daniels and Bradford later reported a false drive-by shooting to get Bradford medical attention.
“My bullet is the one that killed the man, but I am not the only one (responsible),” he said.
Why is this in federal court?
In the month after the killing, Durham police charged Wiley, Cox, Bradford, 21, Bradley and Daniels with first-degree murder and other charges in Durham County. Cox, Bradford and Daniels were on probation at the time of the killing.
A juvenile was also involved, police have said.
In August 2019, Wiley and the four others were indicted in federal court, and Durham prosecutors said they would dismiss the local charges.
Maria Jocys, a special agent with the FBI, said federal officials decided to assist after they learned of the attempted robbery and killing of an Asian business owner.
The FBI focused on technical aspects, like gathering phone records, assisting with interviews and passing the information on to the Durham police investigator David Kramer. Jocys’ investigation revealed multiple telephone calls between Cox, Daniels, Wiley and Bradford before and after the attempted robbery.
Why isn’t anyone charged with murder?
Federal officials initially charged the men with using a firearm in a crime of violence that resulted in a death, which carries a sentence of death or up to life in prison. That charge was changed after the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled an attempted robbery doesn’t meet the legal standards for it.
What about the other defendants?
Cox, Bradley, Daniels and Bradford have pleaded guilty to the two charges of conspiring and attempting to commit the robbery by threat or force in a plea deal in which other charges were dismissed. They could get up to 20 years on each charge.
Bradford and Bradley are scheduled to be sentenced June 1. Cox and Daniels are scheduled on June 2.
This story was originally published April 27, 2021 at 8:26 AM.
