DA: Former LU Senior Yukai Yang Wants Slow Boat to China

Yukai Yang

Late last week, a former Lehigh University Senior Chemistry major was charged with attempting to murder his roommate with Thallium. A former Lehigh University Senior Chemistry major has been charged with attempting to murder his roommate with Thallium. According to Norco DA John Morganelli, who announced the charges Dec 20, Yukai Yang, 22, admitted to Lehigh University police that he had purchased Thallium online, and intended to use it on himself if he did poorly on exams. He admitted to mixing it with food and beverages in a community refrigerator he shared with his roommate. Now Yang, whose student visa has been revoked, literally wants to be deported to China. According to Morganelli, it's to avoid prosecution.

Thallium is considered extremely toxic. Its use has been banned in the United States since 1972 after several accidental deaths when being administered as a pesticide.

Testing of the roommate's blood revealed unsafe Thallium levels, according to Morganelli.

This poisoning goes back to March and April, when Lehigh University police responded to several complaints from Yang's roommate, Juwan Royal. He told police of changing colors in his milk and mouthwash. In addition to getting ill, his personal property was vandalized on several occasions. On his desk, someone had scrawled "NIGGER, GET OUT OF HERE" with a black marker.

Lehigh University police noticed similarities between the message in marker and a written statement from Yang, and charged him in May with malicious mischief, institutional vandalism and ethnic intimidation. Yang was free on $10,000 bail (10%). He is a native Chinese and resides in Easton with his mother. A trial date is scheduled for late January on the ethnic intimidation charges.

Yang never took those exams. He was suspended by Lehigh. Royal graduated from the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences in May.

I'll let John Morganelli fill you in on what must have been a busy Christmas weekend for him:

"Over the Christmas holiday weekend, I learned that Yukai Yang had posted $200,000 cash bail in Northampton County. With that, ICE exercised physical custody of Mr. Yang and removed him from Northampton County Prison to a holding location in Lehigh County pending a deportation hearing in York, Pa. I then learned that Yang intended to waive his right to deportation and apparently thought that he could evade prosecution by going home to China.

"As a result of all of this, I directed ADA Abraham Kassis to file a Motion to Modify Bail and a Writ with ICE to have Mr. Yang returned to us for prosecution . This was filed on December 24, 2018. ICE cooperated with my office in this, and Mr. Yang is now back in Northampton County Prison. I am asking that Mr. Yang be held without bail in that he poses a serious flight risk. A hearing will be held on the Commonwealth's Motion at the discretion of the Court as soon as possible. A copy of that Motion and proposed Order of Court is attached.

"If this was an American citizen, that person would be required to face these charges. Mr. Yang thought that because he is a foreign national, now here illegally in that his student visa has been revoked, that he could post bail, waive his right to a deportation hearing and abscond. That will not happen. I want to commend ADA Kassis and officials at ICE who worked over the holiday to assure that the victim in this case will have these charges heard by a judge and or jury."