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Woman, 28, is 'killed by her ex-boyfriend' less than 12 hours after she reported him to police
By JAMES CIRRONE, US NEWS REPORTERPublished: 15:36 EST, 13 February 2026 | Updated: 15:49 EST, 13 February 2026
A woman was shot to death inside her car just hours after she reported her ex-boyfriend to the police for sexual assault.
Yuan Yuan Lu broke up with Yujun Ren, 32, after she claimed he attacked her while she was staying at his home in south Philadelphia last week.
Lu reported the assault on Saturday, according to her cousin Natalie Truong.
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'She told me how safe she felt, how much better she felt opening up and telling the cops her story,' Truong told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Early on Sunday morning - less than 12 hours after Lu called police - authorities say Ren stalked her in his car and followed her back to her home in Levittown, near Philadelphia.
Ring camera video obtained by detectives shows a car they say is owned by Ren closely following behind Lu's vehicle at 5:49am on Sunday, according to WPVI-TV.
Police said Ren approached her as she sat in her car outside her home and shot her, killing her.
Ren turned himself into to police hours later with an attorney present and lead them to her body. Officers found Lu sitting in the driver's seat with a gunshot wound to the head. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Yuan Yuan Lu reported her boyfriend to police - less than 12 hours later she was dead
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Ren told police he was angry after Lu said 'hurtful things' to him and allegedly took their pets, according to the Inquirer.
He further claimed that he killed Lu by accident, explaining that he intended to scare her by waving his gun around and when it went off by mistake.
Ren's aunt turned over the 9mm handgun to police. Before her death, Lu told police that he carried the weapon everywhere, which made her fear for her safety.
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The ex-boyfriend, Yujun Ren, told police he accidentally shot Lu in the head
The Bucks County District Attorney's Office filed a criminal complaint against Ren the same day he surrendered himself. He was charged with murder, possession of an instrument of crime and stalking.
'Today’s tragic event is a sobering reminder of the lethal nature of domestic violence. Thanks to the swift, coordinated response from the Bristol Township Police Department, the Middletown Township Police Department, and our Bucks County Detectives, we have successfully taken the defendant into custody and the community is safe,' District Attorney Joe Khan said in a statement.
Truong told the Inquirer that Lu grew up in a small village in south China and moved to the United States in 2009 in search of a better life.
Lu perfected her English while in school and developed an entrepreneurial drive, according to Truong.
She started off cooking homemade Chinese cuisine and selling it in food carts on local college campuses. Later, she worked in a bubble tea shop and at a nursing home.
Lu also loved her pets - a corgi named Dundun and a cat named Milk Cap. Truong often went to restaurants with Lu around Philadelphia to try them out.
Truong said she had a close relationship with her cousin, yet she did not talk about her relationship with Ren often. She dated him for a year and met him at her nursing home job.
Truong said Lu's death was tragic, adding that she wished police would have had more time to investigate the alleged sexual assault.
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Lu, 28, was shot to death in her car on Sunday morning
'We're still processing a lot of it. It doesn't feel real,' Truong said.
Truong started a GoFundMe page for the family. In the description, she explained that Lu's father had left for China months earlier to be with her mother and her brother.
Lu was without her immediate family for months and Truong revealed that she was the one to tell her parents about their daughter's untimely death.
'Breaking this devastating news to her parents over the phone was heartbreaking, no parent should ever have to learn of their child’s death this way,' she wrote.
'Yuan Yuan was a bright, kind, and bubbly person who brought joy to everyone around her. She rarely showed her pain and didn’t want to burden others, choosing to struggle silently until it was too late.'
