Landlord rips Manhattan DA after tenant murdered in apartment

A New York City landlord blasted Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg after a man allegedly killed a woman inside her apartment on Sunday.

Christina Yuna Lee, 35, was stabbed to death inside her Chrystie Street apartment on the Lower East Side.

The NYPD charged Assamad Nash, 25, of Manhattan with murder and burglary on Monday. In court, a prosecutor said Nash stabbed Lee more than 40 times.  Her body was found in her bathtub and Nash allegedly still in the apartment.

At the request of the prosecution, a judge ordered Nash to be held in custody.

RELATED:  Who is Assamad Nash?

The owner of the building, Brian Chin, lashed out about the killing.

"This is you know, as landlords we have a responsibility to protect tenants. I've done everything," Chin said. "As I said that door, it's solid steel, solid steel, double-walled steel that kept the SWAT team out for five minutes. We can't protect against monsters like this. No matter how much we invest, it comes down to our elected officials."

Chin specifically criticized Bragg's policies, arguing Lee's murder could have been prevented.

"From a landlord’s perspective, from storeowner’s perspective, we’re terrified of this, his policies and what not. Armed robbery of a store is now a petty larceny? What insanity is this?" he said. "This guy, his rap sheet is a mile long, he should have been behind bars. Assault? Menacing? How is he out? This is outrageous."

Manhattan DA's controversial crime policy concerns restaurants

"My family, we have owned this building since the 1970s, my grandparents are Chinese immigrants," Chin said. "They came from China, they built themselves. We built up this community. And to see it get torn down so fast by one district attorney, it’s just heart-wrenching. And a disgrace to all of us in the community."

A vigil was held Monday for Christina Yuna Lee, 35, of Chinatown outside her apartment building where she was stabbed to death a day earlier.

A vigil was held Monday for Christina Yuna Lee, 35, of Chinatown outside her apartment building where she was stabbed to death a day earlier. (Credit: ChristinaYLee.com)

Bragg has faced criticism over a controversial Jan. 3 memo instructing assistant district attorneys to only seek pretrial detention in "very serious cases."  He has since released a new memo "clarifying" those policies.

Bragg, a former federal prosecutor and civil rights lawyer who grew up in Harlem in the high-crime 1980s, campaigned as a progressive with firsthand experience of both violence and the toll of the criminal justice system. He said as a candidate that he would decline to pursue many low-level offenses.  He was elected as Manhattan's first Black D.A.

FOX News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.