Accused cell phone murderer's trial begins

The trial over the 2012 murder of Riverdale resident Hwang Yang began on Monday, with an assistant district attorney arguing the killing was part of a cold-blooded plot and the defense saying that suspect Dominick Davis previously only made a confession under compulsion.

Mr. Hwang was fatally shot on West 232nd Street near the intersection with Cambridge Avenue on April 19, 2012. He was walking home from his job as a chef in Manhattan when the perpetrators apparently targeted him for his iPhone, which was stolen.

In her opening statements against Mr. Davis, one of two suspects arrested in connection with the murder, Bronx Assistant District Attorney Theresa Gottlieb said Mr. Hwang’s death was preceded by a robbery the previous week, in which Mr. Davis, co-defendant Alejandro Campos and another suspect allegedly stole a man’s phone at a gas station.

The prosecutor went on to say that Mr. Campos and Mr. Davis, who lived in separate apartments at 2850 Webb Ave. then decided to do another “come-up-on, which is another word for a robbery.” Mr. Davis alternately looked down at his table or directly ahead while the victim’s mother broke out in sobs and Ms. Gottlieb related the alleged events of April 19, 2012 in an even voice to 12 jurors and two alternates.

“Dominick Davis and Alejandro Campos see the deceased, Hwang Yang, walking from the 231st station of Broadway. He had just come home from work,” Ms. Gottlieb said. “They see him enter Ewen Park on Riverdale Avenue. They know he’s got to come out on one of the sides. They take the van and they ride around…

“They see the deceased, they see him go up the hill and come out of the park,” the prosecutor continued. “Dominick Davis then gets out of the van armed with his gun, goes up to the victim and demands his cell phone. He then shoots the victim once in the chest. The victim runs up the street a little bit, collapses and dies. The deceased’s phone is then taken by Dominick Davis.”