Second man sentenced in woman's 2022 shooting death at Asian massage business

A judge on Wednesday sentenced Juan Carlos Hernandez to life plus 21 years in prison in the 2022 shooting death of an Albuquerque business owner who desperately tried to fight off Hernandez and a second teenage attacker during a robbery.

Prosecutors told jurors that Hernandez, 21, and a co-defendant shot 45-year-old Sihui Fang at least 10 times after entering her business, Wonderful Massage, in Northeast Albuquerque.

Fang, a native of an impoverished village in China, operated massage businesses in California and New Mexico and obtained U.S. citizenship.

Her violent death on Jan. 24, 2022, occurred amid a string of robberies at Asian massage businesses in Albuquerque, stoking fears among business owners and employees.

A 2nd Judicial District Court jury last year found Hernandez guilty of first-degree murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and conspiracy after deliberating for a single day.

Hernandez’s co-defendant, Jorge Rivera-Ramirez, 22, was sentenced in April to life plus 18 years after a jury found him guilty in 2024 of first-degree murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and other charges in the same attack. District Judge Brett Loveless presided in both trials.

The first-degree murder conviction requires both men to serve at least 30 years in prison before beginning to serve the remainder of their sentences.

At Hernandez’s trial, Assistant District Attorney Natalie Lyon told jurors that the violent encounter began when Hernandez knocked on the front door of the business and asked for a massage before pointing a gun at her head.

At one point, Fang unlocked the door and attempted to escape but encountered Rivera-Ramirez standing outside the business, who pushed her back inside, Lyon said.

Prosecutors showed jurors security video from the business that captured a portion of the struggle between Fang and both attackers.

Fang desperately grabbed onto the door frame, but the two attackers pulled her back into the business, prosecutors said. Hernandez pushed Fang to the floor, then grabbed her hair and dragged her down a hallway.

At some point, Fang was able to grab a handgun and exchanged gunfire with the pair, shooting Rivera-Ramirez before dying from multiple gunshot wounds.

Hernandez’s attorney, Roberta Yurcic, told jurors that Fang “escalated” the encounter by arming herself and shooting at her two attackers. The teenagers were exiting the building when Fang emerged from a room with a firearm and began shooting at them, Yurcic said.