Federal jury find Durham man guilty in attempted robbery and killing of Hong Zheng

A jury found a Durham man guilty Tuesday of three federal charges in the April 2018 fatal robbery and killing of Chinese restaurant owner Hong Zheng.

The four-woman, eight-man jury deliberated about five hours Tuesday before finding Maurice Owen Wiley Jr. guilty of conspiring and attempting to commit a robbery by threat or force and conspiring to possess a firearm while committing a violent crime.

Wiley, 24, could face up to 20 years in prison on each charge.

He was found not guilty of possessing ammunition as a felon, which was punishable by up to 10 years.

After the verdict was read, Wiley took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes and face, shook his head and stared into space in the federal courtroom in Winston-Salem.

Chief District Judge Thomas Schroeder of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District set sentencing for July 21.

Emotional testimony from Zheng’s wife

The five-day trial started with emotional testimony from Zheng’s wife, Shirley Chan.

On April 15, 2018, she and her husband returned home from their South Roxboro Street restaurant China Wok around 10:20 p.m. It was raining hard on the Sunday evening, and Zheng dropped his wife off at the sidewalk to the walk to the house.

Inside, their two children waited in a nightly ritual the family had established after four previous robberies and break-ins.

Their 14-year-old daughter watched from a window. Their 17-year-old son waited by the front door, ready to hand his mother a 9 mm handgun and a magazine, according to court testimony.

As Chan made it to the door, masked gunmen started shooting, she testified.

Her son gave her the gun, but she slipped and it jammed. When Chan started shooting, the men fled in a white SUV damaged in the gunfire.

Chan called to her husband, but he didn’t answer.

“He is not answering me! He is not answering me!”” Chan screamed as she testified in English and Mandarin.

Prosecutors contended Wiley rented two SUVs and drove a group to the restaurant and house before and on the night of the attempted robbery and shooting.

Hykeem Cox, one of Wiley’s co-defendants, testified Friday that he and Wiley shot into Zheng’s minivan in the driveway.

“My bullet is the one that killed the man, but I am not the only one (responsible),” he said.

Zheng’s death and his family’s repeated robberies and break-ins brought focus to the danger that Asian business owners say they routinely face.

Chan and her two children were present for the first day of testimony, when all three testified, and during closing arguments Monday. As Chan sat in court Monday, her daughter often held her her arm and hand.

Defense said Wiley wasn’t there

Wiley’s attorney contended Wiley wasn’t in the vehicle the night of the attempted robbery.

In closing arguments, attorney John Bryson suggested Wiley had loaned a rented Lincoln MKX on the night of the shooting to his cousin Charles Winfor Daniels, one of the four others charged in the case.

Bryson also questioned the credibility of Cox, who has a history of making deals with police.

But the jury didn’t appear to believe Wiley’s defense after prosecutors’ and witnesses outlined evidence that tied Wiley to the family’s restaurant and house.

That evidence included:

▪ Records that put Wiley’s phone near the South Roxboro Street restaurant and couple’s home in the Hope Valley Farms North neighborhood during the attempted robbery.

▪ Surveillance video of the SUVs Wiley rented to case China Wok and testimony linking him to repairs of the Lincoln after Chan shot a window and a door.

▪ Testimony indicating Wiley had the rental car’s window and door repaired after the shooting.

In plea deals that dismissed other charges, co-defendants Cox, Daniels, Darryl Bradford and Semaj Maleek Bradley pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring and attempting to commit the robbery by threat or force. They could get up to 20 years on each charge.

Bradford also pleaded guilty to an unrelated carjacking charge in which he could face up to 15 years in prison..

Bradford and Bradley are scheduled to be sentenced June 1. Cox and Daniels are scheduled on June 2.