Secret admirer receives prison sentence in pistol-whipping case

HAZEL PARK — An 18-year minimum prison sentence has been handed down in the case of a Rochester woman who formed a crush on a man she saw at the gym and stalked his girlfriend, pistol-whipping her outside a home in Hazel Park.

Jie Yu, now 53, was sentenced in Oakland County Circuit Court before Judge Yasmine Poles on May 20 after being found guilty April 10.

Yu was sentenced on seven counts, including one count of assault with intent to murder, which carries a minimum 18 years in prison and maximum 60 years; two felony weapons charges, each with a two-year sentence; and three counts of aggravated stalking and one count of carrying a concealed weapon, all punishable by a minimum of two years and maximum of five years.

She has the right to file for an appeal and will also receive mental health treatment in prison.

During Yu’s trial, an insanity defense was raised, which would require convincing the jury that she cannot distinguish between right and wrong.

“The jury still found her guilty, but also found her mentally ill, which is a mitigating factor,” said William Barnwell, the attorney for Yu. “Had we not gone to trial, that finding of fact would not have been made.”

As previously reported, the attack occurred in the 90 block of West Shevlin Avenue in Hazel Park on the morning of March 29, 2024. Police received calls around 8:20 a.m. reporting that shots had been fired.

Officers rushed to the scene and found that while a gun was involved, no shots were fired. Rather, a 35-year-old woman had been reportedly struck in the face with a pistol.

The victim had allegedly been sitting in her car in the driveway with the driver’s window down while she talked on her cellphone. That’s when the suspect approached her, police said, carrying a bright red bag similar to those used by food delivery workers.

The victim told police that the suspect first asked her about the address and then walked away before returning moments later with a 9mm Glock pistol. Without saying a word, the suspect reportedly used the gun to pistol-whip the victim. At one point, she also allegedly racked the slide on the gun and dropped a live 9mm round onto the ground near the car.

At the time of the incident, Brian Buchholz was the police chief of Hazel Park.

“The suspect was manipulating the weapon when she confronted the victim and racked the slide a couple times. It does make you wonder if she would’ve shot and killed this woman if she knew how to correctly use the gun,” Buchholz said previously. “It’s hard to say, based on her actions, how the suspect would’ve expected the victim to know to stay away from the boyfriend, or what her purpose was.”

The attack occurred after the victim had returned from the home of her boyfriend, who was also in his 30s. The victim saw the suspect’s getaway vehicle, which she described as a gray 2018 Ford F-150 pickup truck.

Police used surveillance footage from nearby homes and businesses to get the number on the plate, which linked the truck to the suspect’s estranged husband, a resident of Auburn Hills.

Upon executing a search warrant at Yu’s home in Rochester, police reportedly found the packaging and codes to two tracking devices. One was found on the vehicle of the man she was apparently interested in, and the other was found on the vehicle of the man’s girlfriend — the woman she allegedly attacked.

Yu returned home a short time later. At first, she kept changing her story, police said, but in a subsequent interview she allegedly admitted to feeling lovestruck when she saw the man at the gym, and that she had been stalking them for some time prior to the attack. She also reportedly told police that she had intended to “scare” the man’s girlfriend.

Yu had no prior criminal history, and no prior connection to either victim. When the man was shown Yu’s picture, he recognized her from the gym, but he knew nothing else about her.

“This was an extremely dangerous situation,” Buchholz said previously. “Unbeknownst to the victims, this woman was watching them for an extended period of time and wanted to harm the girlfriend. It’s very fortunate that it didn’t go further than it did.”

William Hamel, the current police chief of Hazel Park, said that stalking is defined as a crime where two or more unconsented contacts are made that harasses or scares a person.

He said victims can contact police to report stalking. In addition, victims can seek a personal protection order through their county’s circuit court.

“In this case, the victim was not aware they were being stalked. Only after the suspect was identified and located did our investigation reveal the stalking,” Hamel said. “Our detectives did a thorough investigation.”