Murder Charges Filed in Spotsylvania Case

BY ANNE LONGERBEAM

Yong Hui Zhang, a delivery man from local restaurant China Express, was abducted, assaulted and murdered July of this year.

According to Natatia Bledsoe, a Public Information Officer for the Fredericksburg Police Department, suspects Jermaine Lamont Montgomery of unknown location and his girlfriend, Marcey Odessa White of Manassas, Va., abducted Zhang at approximately 10 p.m. on July 3. The abduction took place at 202 Charles St., less than two miles away from the UMW campus.

The Zhang family, owners of China Express located three blocks away from UMW, called the police at 10:15 p.m. when Zhang failed to return from his delivery.

Five years ago Zhang and his brother immigrated from China, according to The Free Lance-Star.

“We’re not certain at this point what they used to assault him at the scene. When we got there, there was blood on the scene and his car,” Bledsoe said.

“We do know that he was stabbed to death, but that happened later.”
Bledsoe also mentioned that there were no indications that the three individuals knew each other before the night of the attack.

Montgomery, 34, used Zhang’s credit card at a Shell station in Spotsylvania County at 10:45 p.m. the night of the attack, according to a news release by the Fredericksburg police.

Both suspects were arrested at a Wal-Mart in Franklin, Va. on July 5.
There has been presumptive identification of a body found in Sussex County to be that of victim Yong Hui Zhang, according to a press release by the Fredericksburg Police Department.  Zhang’s vehicle, a 2004 Nissan Sentra, was found abandoned near the remains of the victim.

“His body was found missing an ear, but we don’t know if that was a deliberate act on the part of his attacker, or if that happened in the course of him stabbing him,” Bledsoe said.

Montgomery has been charged with abduction, car jacking, credit card theft and conspiracy to commit each of these charges in Fredericksburg, and with homicide in Spotsylvania County.

These charges were all null processed, or temporarily removed with the possibility of reinstating the charges by the prosecutor in Fredericksburg, to allow Spotsylvania to have a “clear field to go ahead and prosecute on the homicide.” according to Bledsoe. The arraignment date for Montgomery is Sept. 16, according to the Spotsylvania County Circuit.

Students on campus are dismayed to receive news of the local attack and murder. “It’s shocking that something like that happened and not many people heard about it,” Caitlin Brady said, a freshman.
“As students of UMW, we should be alerted to what goes on in the community around us.”

Sarah Peters, a junior, was taken aback by the horrific details of the attack. “I was shocked and saddened to hear about the details of what happened,” Peters said.

“I was also disappointed that the University chose not to update us on the crime that had been committed. Even though it didn’t happen on campus, what happens in the community can affect us here since we are an open campus.”

Charges brought against White during the preliminary hearing have been waived, with no trial date announced yet. Spotsylvania Commonwealth’s Prosecuting Attorney Bill Neely expects White to testify against Montgomery, according to The Free Lance-Star.

Neely also announced that he will seek the death penalty in Montgomery’s case.