A Florida man whose entire family fell ill when his neighbor allegedly injected him with opioids under his apartment door was stunned to learn that the Chinese national had been deported to his homeland without facing charges.
Expecting to see his nemesis appear in a Zoom window for a court hearing on Tuesday, Umar Abdullah said lawyers told him Xuming Li was back in his home country.
“I was surprised,” Abdullah said. “This was a very serious crime. It is surprising that there is no punishment here. “They never told me any of this, I never expected it.”
Li was arrested in June after Abdullah installed a hidden camera that captured the former University of South Florida student crouching and apparently injecting materials with a syringe under a door.
Authorities later said Li had mixed the poisons inside his school’s chemistry lab.
The tech worker, originally from Bangladesh, said he had mixed feelings about Li’s sudden departure, saying he wanted him to answer the serious crime charges against him, although he was also glad to be out of the country.
Xuming Li was deported to his native China. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office
“If it’s true, then I’m relieved that it’s no longer a threat,” he said.
Abdullah and Li had been fighting over the chemist’s noise complaints at their Tampa apartment complex.
Abdullah initially thought his family was sick from a malfunctioning device, but eventually came to suspect Li was involved, prompting him to plant the hidden camera.
Li allegedly mixed the opioids while he was a student at the University of South Florida. Channel 8 News
In a text message exchange, Li complained once again that Abdullah was being too loud.
Abdullah alluded to the mysterious illnesses in his response.
Li and Abdullah quarreled over noise complaints. Channel 8 News
“My house is full of water heater gas that burns your eyes,” Abdullah responded. “I was hastily opening my windows and doors and that was probably causing panicked footsteps.”
Li gave a concise answer.
“I heard it from his landlord,” he said. “I’m sorry to hear about your situation.”
Umar Abdullah was surprised to learn that Li was no longer in the country. Facebook/Umar Abdullah
Abdullah and his family suffered sporadic bouts of nausea and dizziness for several months before Li’s arrest. They moved out of the apartment complex and have since tried to put the disturbing incident behind them.
The tech designer said his job involves complex coding and he still has a hard time concentrating on his demanding tasks.
“It’s hard to concentrate,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s because of what happened or because of the trauma it caused.”
It was not clear whether Li’s wife returned to China with him and their two young children.
A judge in the case issued an arrest warrant for Li that would only be activated if he returned to the United States.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn