By Forum Staff
On Tuesday, a federal jury in Brooklyn returned a guilty verdict against Antony Abreu on both counts of an indictment charging him with murder-for-hire and murder-for-hire conspiracy in connection with the Feb. 12, 2019 killing of 31-year-old Xin “Chris” Gu, outside of a karaoke bar in Flushing.
As proven at trial, Abreu was hired to murder Gu as part a revenge scheme orchestrated by Gu’s former boss, Allen Yu. Allen Yu’s business, Amaco, lost substantial business when Gu left to start his own property development company. Enraged at Gu’s perceived disloyalty, Allen Yu hired co-conspirators You You and Zhe Zhang to kill Gu in exchange for payment. Zhang in turn hired Abreu to carry out the murder.
Photo Courtesy of U.S. Attorney’s Office for Eastern District of NY
Abreu repeatedly bragged about committing the murder to various associates and posted on social media about the wristwatch Zhang had given him.
On the evening of Feb. 11, 2019, and into the following pre-dawn hours, Gu’s new company hosted a celebration of the Lunar New Year at Lake Pavilion restaurant in Flushing. After dinner, Gu and a smaller group went to a karaoke bar, Grand Slam KTV in Flushing. When Gu left the bar and was getting into a cab, Abreu approached and shot Gu multiple times at close range, killing him. In exchange for committing the murder, Zhang gave Abreu a luxury Richard Mille wristwatch valued at over $100,000. In the days after the murder, in an effort to avoid detection, Abreu sold the car he used in the murder to a relative and sold a burner phone used to facilitate the murder. In the following months, Abreu repeatedly bragged about committing the murder to various associates and posted on social media about the wristwatch Zhang had given him. After his arrest, Abreu obtained a contraband phone in jail, which he used to attempt to intimidate and retaliate against government witnesses in the case and to make payments to potential defense witnesses. You You pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire conspiracy in June 2023 and is awaiting sentencing. Allen Yu and Zhang were convicted at trial in October 2023 and face mandatory life sentences when they are sentenced. When sentenced, Abreu faces a mandatory term of life in prison.
