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http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nydead282766109jun28.story?coll=ny%2Dtop%2Dheadlines
Love Leads to Death
Carbon monoxide overtakes couple
After Plenty of Debate, Board Hikes Stabilized Rents
By Sean Gardiner, Bryan Virasami and Lola Alapo
STAFF WRITERS. Staff writers Peter Bailey and Nick Iyer contributed to this story.
June 28, 2002
A tryst turned fatal when a pair of young Queens lovers were overcome by carbon monoxide fumes after seeking privacy in the backseat of a running car they parked in a garage.
Yan Wang, 23, a recent college graduate, and her boyfriend, Yen-Chun Hwang, 22, were found dead inside a green 1997 Infiniti in the garage of his family's home at 42-18 Aske St. in Corona about 10:55 p.m. Wednesday.
Because it was hot, the couple apparently left the car running so they could use the air conditioner, police said. For privacy, the door of the small garage was closed. Police said it appears that those two factors led to the two being overcome by carbon monoxide fumes.
Hwang's uncle heard the car running in the garage and found Wang in the backseat. He found his nephew on the garage floor. Both were nude. The door to the car was open and it appears Hwang tried to crawl out of the vehicle but passed out before he could make it to safety, police said.
Hwang's family members called 911 then tried to dress Hwang. The fact that Hwang had his clothes on but Wang was nude at first puzzled detectives investigating the deaths.
However, Hwang's grief-stricken mother later admitted she was going to try and dress the couple to spare the families the embarrassment over the way the sweethearts died.
Yesterday afternoon the sound of a woman wailing could be heard from inside the Hwang's two-story, brick attached house overlooking the elevated subway tracks of the No. 7 train.
A steady stream of Hwang's friends entered and left the building, paying their respects to his family.
"My family is torn apart, we cannot eat, we cannot sleep, we cannot think," said a woman who would only give her first name as Hsu, and described herself as a distant relative of the Hwangs.
Wang's father and brother declined comment as they entered their building on 82nd Street in Jackson Heights.
Judy Coppinger, 58, a superintendent at the family's building, described Wang, whom she knew as "Victoria," as a "sweet," "quiet" girl. She remembered that before starting school this past spring, Wang confided in her that she was sad to be going back to school because her parents were going to miss her.
When Coppinger quipped that her parents were going to have a party as soon as she left, it set Wang off in a giggling fit.
Wang and Hwang had been dating for about four years, friends said. Hwang's parents are from Tiawan. He was born here and was their only child.
Wang's family hails from China.
Hwang had just finished his junior year at SUNY Stony Brook where he was a business student. Wang was a business major who earned her bachelor's degree at the same school last month.
One neighbor, Anna Hrubant, saw Wang two weeks ago shortly after she had graduated.
"She had said, 'Now is the hard part finding a job,'" Hubrant recalled. "And I said, 'Don't worry you'll find something. If worse comes to worse you can flip burgers for a while.'"
Another of Wang's neighbors, Jeanne Deleon, said she saw Wang and her boyfriend walking with Wang's mother. He recalled that they all seemed very happy.
"Funny, when old people die you expect it but when it's young people ...," Deleon said.
Staff writers Peter Bailey and Nick Iyer contributed to this story.
Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.
Submitted on 06/28/2002
Submitted by:
ken plumb
Reference:
New York Newsday
Copyright © 2002 DarwinAwards.com
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