Kids critically injured in NYC hammer attack that killed mom get Christmas gifts, $220K in donations

Metro

By Ben Kochman

Two Brooklyn tykes who were critically injured in a hammer attack that killed their mom celebrated the holiday season with donated gifts, as a fundraiser for them topped $220,000.

Little Sophia and David — whose mother Zhou Zhou was murdered in the August attack that authorities say was carried out by her roommate Liyong Ye — posed next to a pile of Christmas presents they received in a picture posted Monday to a GoFundMe page set up for them.

“Thank you for being a part of making this holiday season magical for Sophia and David,” wrote a staffer at the Sunset Park-based nonprofit Parent Child Relationship Association, which organized the fundraising page with the permission of the children’s father, Jing Hong Liu.

“Here’s to a season filled with love, gratitude, and the joy of giving,” the post added.

As of Monday, the fundraiser had raised $220,739 of its $200,000 goal, with 3,000 people chipping in, the page states.

The money is being used for needed medical care for the siblings, with the remainder to be put in a trust for them, according to the nonprofit group.

Both kids were battered in the horrific attack, which Ye, 47, allegedly planned because he blamed Zhou and her young family for what he felt were subpar living conditions in the cramped apartment he shared with them on 52nd Street near 5th Avenue, according to Brooklyn prosecutors.

Ye, who is charged with murder and attempted murder, had occupied one of the bedrooms with his 9-year-old son.

The slain woman and her family lived in another room, and the third was being rented by a single tenant, authorities said.

Sophia and David, who were 3-and-5 years old respectively at the time of the attack, were removed from the apartment in critical condition, police said.

But after spending four months in the hospital, the siblings were discharged earlier in December, and are currently living in an AirBnb as temporary housing with their father, according to the GoFundMe page.

The page’s organizers had posted a wishlist of potential Christmas gifts for the family on Dec 19, including toys, electric toothbrushes and a rice cooker.

The siblings were “super excited to see their gifts arrive,” the nonprofit said, with the photo showing Sophia and David posing with a glowing cat-shaped lamp, magnetic tiles, a stuffed animal and other presents.

Ye’s next court date is scheduled for Jan. 17.