A Far South Side man was convicted of gunning down a 71-year-old grandfather taking a regular walk in Chinatown in 2021 in a bold daylight killing that frightened a community already reeling from an uptick in violence.
Jurors before Judge Domenica A. Stephenson at the Leighton Criminal Court Building deliberated for just an hour Thursday before convicting Alphonso Joyner, 27, of first-degree murder of Woom Sing Tse following a five-day trial.
Prosecutors said surveillance video captured the Dec. 7, 2021, attack on Tse walking near 23rd Place and South Princeton Avenue when Joyner, from the driver’s seat of his blue Toyota sedan, fired six shots at Tse.
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After Tse fell to the ground, Joyner calmly exited his vehicle and fired more shots with a ghost gun loaded with an extended magazine, authorities said. In total, 26 shots were fired at Tse, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
A police flash message on Joyner’s vehicle allowed police to arrest him an hour later on the Kennedy Expressway during rush hour traffic, according to authorities. The untraceable ghost gun was recovered from the vehicle, according to Chicago police and prosecutors.
Tse’s death came during a time of heightened anxiety in Chinese communities across the country during an uptick in seemingly random violent attacks against Asians in the wake of the pandemic.
Prosecutors offered no motive for why Joyner, who only had one prior misdemeanor gun conviction, would have slain the man remembered as a cherished community elder, calling it a random act.
Arriving in the U.S. from China more than 50 years ago, Tse toiled in restaurant work until he owned his own and later retired. The judge who denied Joyner’s bail in 2021 called Tse’s death “an execution,” while the prosecutor called it “evil.”
Three days after his slaying, more than 100 people stood under a canopy of umbrellas in a December rain at a makeshift memorial in Chinatown to remember the family patriarch who toiled long hours doing restaurant work to support his family and who babysat his nine grandchildren.
In a statement announcing the verdict, State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke thanked prosecutors and investigators who worked on the case and decried the “senseless act” that took Tse’s life.
“While today’s guilty verdict cannot erase the pain and grief of Tse’s loved ones, we hope this outcome provides some comfort in knowing that justice has been served,” Burke said.
Joyner will return to court next month for post-trial motions, but the date for sentencing hasn’t been set.