A man has been sentenced to 65 years in prison for the daylight killing of 71-year-old Woom Sing Tse in Chicago’s Chinatown nearly four years ago.
Catch up: Alphonso Joyner, now 27, fatally shot Tse in the 200 block of West 23rd Street on Dec. 7, 2021, as the elderly man made his regular newspaper run. Joyner repeatedly fired from his vehicle before driving into oncoming traffic, exiting and approaching Tse. The victim had fallen when Joyner stood above him and continued shooting at close range, firing a final round before fleeing. Community members quickly supplied police with surveillance videos, leading to Joyner’s arrest an hour later on the Kennedy Expressway with a loaded ghost gun.
Justice at work: Joyner was convicted of first-degree murder last October. At his sentencing on Jan. 30, Tse’s daughter Sarina Set told the court that her children were still having nightmares from their grandfather’s death. Meanwhile, Joyner reportedly showed little emotion.
Joyner’s attorneys filed an appeal challenging the sentence, citing undiagnosed mental health conditions. Illinois State Police forensic scientist Stephanie Plazibat testified that DNA analysis yielded the highest certainty that genetic material on the firearm belonged to Joyner. Prosecutors, who found a total of 22 shots fired, never established a motive.
Why this matters: The case highlights how Asian American communities rallied for justice in another senseless, violent crime. After arriving from China with minimal resources, Tse spent years in kitchens before opening restaurant businesses in Chicago’s suburbs, becoming father to three children and grandfather to nine. The family endured nearly four years of court continuances.
“This senseless act of violence robbed Woom Sing Tse’s family of a beloved and doting grandfather, and it traumatized the entire Chinatown community,” Cook County State Atty. Eileen O’Neill Burke said in October.
This story is part of The Rebel Yellow Newsletter — a bold weekly newsletter from the creators of NextShark, reclaiming our stories and celebrating Asian American voices.
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