A 59-year-old man was sentenced Friday to 11 years to life in prison for stabbing his son-in-law in Yorba Linda.
The victim, Heng Niu, who was going through a divorce with his wife, went to pick up his children Nov. 18, 2022, when Hna Zhao attacked him, prosecutors said.
During the custody exchange, Zhao told the victim he had acquired a family heirloom from China from the victim’s parents and he wanted the victim to retrieve it from a box in the driveway, prosecutors said in court papers. When the victim got out of the vehicle to get it, he was stabbed twice in the back and six more times in the front of his upper body, prosecutors said.
Niu was able to run away to get help from a neighbor. Zhao chased after him, but eventually gave up and returned home, prosecutors said.
Zhao told police he stabbed his son-in-law with a kitchen knife because of the divorce and he accused him of failing to pay alimony and child support for their two children, prosecutors said.
The victim suffered punctured lungs, requiring emergency surgery, prosecutors said.
Zhao was convicted May 23 of attempted murder with sentencing enhancements for attempted premeditated murder, inflicting great bodily injury on the victim and the personal use of a deadly weapon, according to court records.