At a court hearing Wednesday, prosecutors in the case of a California Institute of the Arts student murdered inside her Newhall apartment began to show their hand with respect to their evidence against the man they’ve charged.
The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office accused Jack Minh Terry, 23, of Garden Grove, with one count of premeditated murder in the Feb. 4 death of Menghan Zhuang, a 23-year-old Chinese national on a student visa, who preferred the name Emily King.
Deputy District Attorney Yasmin Fardghassemi of the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office indicated officials “are still supplying voluminous amounts of discovery” to Terry’s defense counsel, according to the minute order from Department G of the L.A. County Superior Court in San Fernando.
Fardghassemi has alleged that King and Terry arranged to meet at King’s Nandina Lane apartment in Newhall on Feb. 3, and the following day he brutally murdered her, according to her argument against bail for Terry.
King’s roommate told detectives he could hear King, and a guest whom he never saw, from outside her room as he left for work at 8 a.m. Feb. 4
Around noon, the roommate received a notification from their Ring security system that showed footage of a man, “possibly Asian,” jumping out of King’s bedroom window and into the apartment stairwell.
The roommate told detectives he sent King a text to say guests were OK there, and “there was no need for him to exit through a window,” according to the detective’s report, which also mentioned the roommate’s concern that King never answered.
When the roommate arrived home around 6:45 p.m., he heard the fan in King’s room, knocked and received no reply. Growing more concerned, he called her cellphone but received no answer.
At that point, the roommate used a spoon to open the victim’s locked bedroom door and made the gruesome discovery: King was wrapped in blankets and towels with the shower running.
The roommate immediately called 911.
Homicide detectives have never publicly indicated how they think King died. Medical examiners reported the cause of death as “multiple injuries.” King’s wounds included blunt force trauma to her forehead, a swollen left eye, a puncture wound to the right ear, small wounds to the neck and “severe” signs she was choked.
King was declared dead less than 20 minutes from the time the roommate had arrived home, according to a search warrant requested at 2 a.m. Feb. 5.
Detectives reported a blood trail from King’s bed to the bathtub where she was found, according to their request for a search warrant. They reported to Judge Daviann Mitchell they were collecting any indications of sharp weapons or a firearm, items linking the victim and suspect to the scene as well as trace and biological evidence.
Terry was initially held in lieu of $2 million bail. At the time of the charged offense, Terry did not have a criminal history, according to prosecutors; however, they argued for no bail based on their concern for public safety due to the nature of the allegation.
Terry’s bail was revoked at a February hearing. He’s due back in court July 17.
