What happened to Paula Chin? Details explored ahead of New York Homicide on Oxygen 

Paula Chin, a 65-year-old mother and long-time TriBeCa resident, was killed by her son, Jared Eng, in January 2019. The case, characterized by its details and the inclusion of Eng's close friends, led to Eng pleading guilty to second-degree murder and being sentenced to 22 years to life imprisonment.

The killing, its investigation, and its aftermath have been the subject of extensive coverage and renewed scrutiny leading up to Oxygen's New York Homicide. Her case will be featured on New York Homicide season 3 episode 13, titled Trouble in Tribeca, on April 26, 2025, on Oxygen.

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The murder of Paula Chin

As per the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, on January 31, 2019, Jared Eng murdered his mother, Paula Chin, in their apartment in TriBeCa at 17 Vestry Street. The prosecutors stated that Eng assaulted his mother, stabbing her in the neck during the fight. The assault was termed "brutal and shocking" by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

According to reports, Chin died as a result of multiple stab wounds to the neck and blunt trauma to the head. Following the murder, Eng, who was 22 and a SUNY New Paltz student at the time, started searching on the internet for ways to dispose of a body, such as researching "DIY bone meal" and inheritance attorneys.

Prosecutors indicated that his motive was to speed up his inheritance, which was projected to be around $11 million.

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The cover-up and disposal

According to reports, Eng did not work alone after the deed. He called upon his girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez, and another girlfriend, Caitlyn O'Rourke, both of whom helped him clean up the apartment and get rid of Chin's body.

Footage from the surveillance indicated Lopez parking Chin's Toyota Land Cruiser against the curb of the Vestry Street building, and then, a person with a duffle bag-like object walking to the vehicle. The crew took Paula Chin's body to her second residence in Morristown, New Jersey, and put her body in a trash can on the grounds.

O'Rourke subsequently confided in the police that Eng had confessed the crime to her and explained their attempts to conceal the body and clean up the crime scene. Text messages between accomplices indicated coordination, with Lopez stating:

"The hardest part was backing up the car."

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Investigation, arrest, and sentencing

According to the New York Times, Paula Chin was reported missing by her elder son, Brandon, on February 4, 2019. On checking Chin's car, police discovered blood and her clothes in the trunk, leading to a search of the Morristown property where her body was discovered in a trash bag.

Bloody clothes, blood spots in both houses, and online evidence, such as Eng's guilty Google research and text messages, presented a large case against him. As per the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, Eng was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. He at first denied any wrongdoing but pleaded guilty in September 2022.

At sentencing, Eng showed remorse, saying he was consumed by guilt and plagued by nightmares about the night of the killing. On October 26, 2022, he was sentenced to 22 years to life in prison. Both Lopez and O'Rourke were accused of concealment of a human body and let out on bail reform law, with their cases still pending based on the last reports.

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Paula Chin's homicide was a well-planned, violent crime perpetrated by her son, Jared Eng, as he attempted to hasten his inheritance. Watch her case on New York Homicide on Oxygen.