John Jefferson
Murder suspect Huangting Gong (Orange County District Attorney’s Office).
A 19-year-old man in California allegedly murdered an Orange County couple he owed $80,000 to — executing them separately in the desert with gunshots — before burning their bodies and Teslas to hide the evidence, prosecutors say.
Huangting Gong, of Glendale, is accused of driving around with the victims’ bodies in their Teslas as he killed them both in order last month, starting first with Kuanlun Wang, 37, before setting his deadly sights on Wang’s wife, Jing Li, also 37.
Wang had agreed to meet with Gong at an undisclosed location in the Southern California desert on Oct. 12, according to an Orange County District Attorney’s Office press release and his criminal complaint. Prosecutors believe the two men were discussing what Wang owed when Gong allegedly shot him in the head.
After “executing” Wang, Gong allegedly put his body in Wang’s Tesla that he drove out to the desert and took the vehicle back to Wang’s home in Brea, where he encountered Li.
“Gong is then accused of attacking Li with a hammer and hitting her while forcing her to give him her phone’s password,” according to the DA’s office. “Gong is accused of putting Li inside of her own Tesla, taking her to a desert area in San Bernardino where he shot her and then burned her body.”
Once this was done, Gong then allegedly returned to retrieve Wang’s body from his home and burned it in a desert area in Riverside County, according to prosecutors.
He capped off his murder errands with a trip to “different desert areas” to set the two Teslas on fire, prosecutors say, before later returning to the couple’s home on Oct. 14 to allegedly swipe nearly $250,000 worth of watches, shoes, handbags and clothing, according to the complaint.
“Depravity does not adequately describe the callousness involved to kill a human being and then drive around in the victim’s own car with his body inside in order to carry out the rest of his plan,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer in a statement Tuesday. “No one deserves the fate of being executed and then set on fire in the middle of the desert in a desperate attempt by a killer to cover up his crimes. We are committed to pursuing justice for the victims and their loved ones.”
One of the things that helped lead investigators with the Brea Police Department to Gong was an alleged sighting of him on Wang’s home surveillance system on Oct. 14. Prosecutors say a “family member” was trying to get in contact with Wang and Li but couldn’t, so she checked the surveillance video and spotted Gong, who denied it was him.
“[T]hen her access to the video surveillance system was cut off,” according to the DA’s office.
Prosecutors say it was this same family member who told them of the $80,000 debt allegedly hanging over Gong’s head, claiming he was a “business associate” of Wang’s who owed him the money for undisclosed reasons.
“After not hearing from Wang, his family member contacted Gong on October 12, 2024, who told her Wang and Wang’s wife … never showed up for a trip to New York City to meet with another business associate who could give Wang the $80,000 Gong owed him,” the DA’s office says. “Wang’s family were not aware of any trip planned to New York.”
Gong was arrested on Nov. 5 while returning home from a trip to Seattle. He has been charged with a laundry list of felonies related to his alleged crimes, including two felony counts of murder, one felony count of kidnapping, two felony counts of arson, two felony counts of first-degree burglary, two felony special circumstances enhancements for committing a double murder, one felony special circumstances enhancement for committing a murder during the commission of kidnapping, and two felony enhancements for discharging a firearm that caused death.
Since the killings have been deemed “special circumstances murder cases,” prosecutors say Gong is eligible for both a maximum life sentence without the possibility of parole and the death penalty, which is only allowed for special circumstances cases in California.
“In special circumstances murder cases, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office convenes a special circumstances committee after the preliminary hearing is held to determine whether to pursue the death penalty,” according to the DA’s office. “This process includes a presentation of the case by the prosecutor as well as from the defense. The elected District Attorney makes the ultimate decision whether to pursue death after going through that process. If the decision is not to pursue death, then the maximum sentence is life without the possibility of parole.”
Court records show that Gong is scheduled to be arraigned on Dec. 2 in Santa Ana.
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