Man sentenced to 2 consecutive life prison terms for murders in Chicago's Chinatown

A man was sentenced to two consecutive terms of life in prison Wednesday for the murder of two men in an attempted robbery Chicago's Chinatown six years ago.

Alvin Thomas was sentenced Wednesday by Cook County Criminal Court Judge Neera Walsh.

He was convicted of the murders of Huayi Bian, 36, and Weizhing Xiong, 38, during a robbery attempt in a parking lot at Tan Court and Wells Street at 2:15 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020 — a little over a month before the COVID pandemic shutdowns.

Police said the two men were with Xiong's wife when Thomas tried to rob them.

Authorities said Thomas demanded money from the group at gunpoint. Xiong's wife complied, but Xiong himself and Bian resisted and were shot dead, police said at the time.

Thomas ran away, but was apprehended a few blocks away in the 2200 block of South Princeton Avenue, police said at the time.

"We got him. Today is a victory for the victims and the family. Chinatown residents do not need to live in fear anymore. We get to go home. The killer is going to the big house for two natural lives," said Dr. Kim Kee. "We are so thrilled that justice prevailed."

Xiong's widow also spoke through a Chinese interpreter.

"Exactly six years and two days after such a long wait, finally, justice is served, and the defendant deserves two life term sentences," she said through the interpreter, "and finally, I can tell my late husband somewhere up there that we did it, and finally, we got justice."

Shamelah Jones, a family member of Thomas', also spoke. She claimed that the incident was not a robbery, and that none of the victims' property was taken. 

Jones claimed Thomas, 20 at the time, was intoxicated and seeking help when the victims assumed he was seeking harm.

"Neither one of the families won on this," said Ameena Matthews, another family member of Thomas'.