Photo: NYPD
A New York Cityman charged in connection with his mother’s deathdenied killing her in a jailhouse interview during which he said he was suicidal and described his erratic thoughts.
Jared Eng, 22, his girlfriend Caitlyn O’Rourke, 21, and friendJennifer Lopez, 18, have been charged withconcealment of a corpse and tampering with physical evidencein the death of Eng’s mother, 65-year-old Paula Chin.
In his interview withtheNew York Daily News, Eng — who has not been charged with murder — said that while he didn’t kill Chin, he has had conflicting thoughts and pangs of guilt.
“I was feeling suicidal,” Eng said of the days since his arrest Wednesday. “I was hearing these thoughts: ‘What if I did do it?’ Maybe I did do it. Then I don’t deserve to live.”
Her body had been stuffed in a garbage bag and left outside beside other trash,NBC New YorkandABC7 report.
She died of multiple blunt impacts to the head and a “stab wound” to the neck, according to the New York City Medical Examiner. Her death was ruled a homicide, but as of Monday afternoon no murder charges have been filed.
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“I didn’t kill her,” Eng told theDaily News,hours before the medical examiner’s ruling. “I want to clear my name.”
While a motive has not been released for Chin’s death, Eng denied reports that it stemmed from money.
“She gave me everything,” he told the paper. “If I needed anything, she gave it to me. Money? She gave it to me.”
Son Allegedly Said Mom Took ‘a While to Die’: Girlfriend
O’Rourke, who is dating Eng, allegedly told police Eng called her and admitted to killing his mother, saying that it had taken her “a while to die,” according to the complaint. O’Rourke also allegedly told police Lopez admitted to helping Eng move his mother’s body.
Eng told theDaily Newshe, O’Rourke and Lopez are in a polyamorous relationship. Both Eng and O’Rourke are students at SUNY New Paltz, where they met in 2017. Eng said he and Lopez met last summer while he was a life guard.
Recalling a recent family trip to Mexico, Eng said he, his brother and his mother were not having any problems.
“We went to Mexico City to celebrate her retirement,” he said. “We came back so happy. That was this January. January!”
The criminal complaint alleges Eng made two separate trips from Manhattan to Morristown: One on Jan. 31, the other on Feb. 1.
O’Rourke allegedly told police that on Feb. 1, she, Eng and Lopez placed Chin’s body alongside other trash outside her Morristown home, though it was not immediately clear where her body was before then. O’Rourke allegedly admitted to attempting to clean up the scene.
When police searched the property, they found bloody rubber gloves in the garbage and blood stains on the garage floor. During a search of Chin’s Manhattan apartment, bloody gloves and traces of blood were found, the complaint states.
Attorneys for O’Rourke or Lopez could not immediately be reached for comment.
Eng’s attorney, Joel Cohen, could not be reached for comment Friday. Ina statement to theNew YorkTimes,he said, “The case is in its early stages and will ultimately be resolved in the courtroom, not in the media.”
source: people.com
