Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Man drowned girlfriend because she was ‘acting weird,’ then stuffed ball down her throat ‘to fix her jaw,’ cops say

The couple, who had been dating since January, reportedly went to the same Hawaii high school together

Myriam Page
Monday 19 August 2024 12:46 EDT
Andy Chu confessed to choking his 25-year-old girlfriend, Zoey Suyun at his Seattle condo
Andy Chu confessed to choking his 25-year-old girlfriend, Zoey Suyun at his Seattle condo (Fox Seattle)

A Seattle man has been arrested for allegedly drowning his girlfriend while high on molly because she was “acting weird,” according to police.

Andy Chu, 25, has been charged with first-degree murder for the death of Zoey Suyun He, who was visiting her boyfriend from Hawaii, according to KHON2. Police reportedly found He on August 10 with an ice pack on her neck, a block supporting the back of her head, and a “heavy white ball lodged in her throat” in addition to a substance later identified as Acai powder all over her body.

These were apparently Chu’s attempts to “fix her jaw” and revive his girlfriend after brutally assaulting her while on molly (also known as Ecstasy or MDMA) sometime between August 9 and 10, police said. Chu also claimed he tried to perform CPR on He, whom he went to high school with and had been dating since January.

Andy Chu confessed to choking his 25-year-old girlfriend, Zoey Suyun at his Seattle condo
Andy Chu confessed to choking his 25-year-old girlfriend, Zoey Suyun at his Seattle condo (Fox Seattle)

He was just three days away from her 26th birthday when she was allegedly murdered. Seattle firefighters arrived at Chu’s residence after his neighbors phoned 911 to report water was flowing out of his condo, and they were unable to get in contact with him, per a probable cause arrest affidavit obtained by Law & Crime.

There, they discovered He in the bathroom suffering from “severe traumatic assault” to her face, head, next and chest, and the faucets to the bathtub and sinks running, causing water to flow across the floor and down the stairs.

Footage from the doorbell of one of Chu’s neighbors is believed to show him and his girlfriend walking into the condo with bags of groceries on August 9. The next day, the footage appears to show Chu leaving his residence alone, allegedly stuffing something under his white T-shirt.

Andy Chu was allegedly captured walking into his condo with his girlfriend on 9 August
Andy Chu was allegedly captured walking into his condo with his girlfriend on 9 August (Fox Seattle)
On 10 August, Chu was seemingly filmed walking out from his residence, without his girlfriend
On 10 August, Chu was seemingly filmed walking out from his residence, without his girlfriend (Fox Seattle)

The same day this footage was captured, officers received a report of a University of Washington Medical Center patient who had allegedly groped a nurse’s breasts and tried to “pull her head down by hooking the back of her neck.”

Upon realising the patient to be Chu, police escorted him to the Seattle Police headquarters for an interview, where he revealed a version of events they described to be “quite fragmented and difficult to follow at times.”

“He said he has memory of choking her, twisting her neck, holding her down under the water in the tub. He said he thought he broke her neck,” cops wrote, also noting he remembered removing her from the bathtub and placing her on the bathroom floor before his drug-induced attempts to revive her.

Friends of Chu took him to the hospital for what the affidavit described as “psychotic behaviour,” with police writing he had bruises and abrasions on his knuckles, knees, legs and elbows.

Chu is currently being held at King County Correctional Facility with bail set at $5 million.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in