Bronx burning car victim's mom sits down with PIX11: 'I never got to see her'
LOWER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (PIX11) -- A tearful interview with a grieving mom in the Bronx burning car case revealed the accused killer, who was just arrested, used to hang out at her family restaurant on Grand Street.
"When I saw the pictures of the two guys, I've seen the guys at the restaurant," Amy Chan, the mother of Nikki Huang, said this week. "She was always trying to help, trying to feed people."
Chan was speaking of Jahmel Sanders, arrested near a Bronx shelter Tuesday, and Steven Santiago, who remained on the lam Wednesday, nearly 10 months after the two men allegedly shot Nikki Huang and her friend, Jesse Parrilla, in the heads—before setting Parrilla's gray Honda on fire with the victims in the front seats.
"They didn't just kill her," the mother cried. "I never got to see her."
The grieving mother agreed to do an interview with PIX11 News Tuesday morning because she and a lead investigator in the case, Detective John Soto, wanted to encourage people with information to come forward. Police said multiple unidentified suspects were involved in a multi-layered night of violence pitting rival gangs together.
Detective Soto encouraged people who want to stay anonymous to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS, where they would receive a code number.
"You would never be revealed," Detective Soto said. "You don't have to testify. You don't have to speak to me or speak to the DA. You give the information, they give you a number, and you never have to see or hear from any of us."
The Chief of Detectives, James Essig, previously announced a $10,000 reward in the case for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.
Nikki Huang had just left work at her family's restaurant on Sunday, May 15, 2022, when she was robbed in a parking lot of her Louis Vuitton bag.
She was upset about the robbery and contacted her father in a panic.
"She called her father about 9:30 p.m. saying she was pistol-whipped and they took her stuff," Amy Chan recalled.
The mother remembered the daughter was telling her dad to change the locks on the apartment door.
"Because they took her keys, she was worried about them going to the house," Chan said.
Police think one of Nikki Huang's acquaintances from downtown heard about the robbery and decided to take matters into his own hands.
By 11 p.m., a man named Brandon Atkinson was shot in the head on Avenue D and East Third Street.
He was the half-brother of suspect Steven Santiago, who remains at large.
Police said Atkinson was affiliated with the Down the Hill gang, although he didn't have anything to do with the robbery.
Soon after Atkinson was killed, alleged Down the Hill members started going after people who belonged to the Up the Hill gang.
"One gang retaliating against another gang," Detective Soto observed. "Innocent people are going to get hurt. That's the nature of that game."
Soto added he didn't think anyone could have imagined the brutality that Huang and Parrilla had to endure.
Investigators believe Parrilla was forced to lure Nikki Huang from her apartment door with a text after he had dropped her off.
They said another man was lured from his home in Queens and shot in the face before one of the suspects ran over him. The victim survived.
PIX11 News has learned at least five cars were utilized during the night of gunfire.
Jesse Parrilla's gray Honda was driven to the Queens shooting location, along with a white Nissan.
A white Fiat was used as the getaway car after Huang and Parrilla had been shot and burned in the Bronx near the Split Rock Golf Course.
A tan Mercedes was seen at the scene of two non-fatal shootings near Pike Street in Manhattan.
These four vehicles were later found, and all of them burned.
The only car not accounted for is a black Ford Fusion.
Amy Chan appealed to anyone with even a morsel of information to call in a tip.
"You're not giving your names or anything," Chan said. "You're not snitching. The killers: They knew Nikki. They knew Jesse. They're all in the same circle."