NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Seven members of Ruxin Wang's family filed in to the first two rows of courtroom 6D inside the Birch Building in downtown Nashville. Then, through a door directly across from them, the teenager who allegedly killed the patriarch of their family was escorted into the room.
It was 2017 when police say Myeisha Brown shot and killed Ruxin Wang as he was taking out the trash on Claiborne Street in Nashville. The 74-year-old grandfather had just stepped out of his son's newly purchased home when he was shot and killed.
At the time, Myeisha Brown was 16-years-old but a judge later determined that given her lengthy criminal history, she should be tried as an adult.
Since the crime happened, Brown has remained behind bars on a $100K bond. Last week though, Ruxin Wang's family became aware of a fundraising website had been launched to help Myeisha bail out of jail for a court hearing scheduled this Friday. So far the website has raised more than $11,000.
"It's like a slap in the face, it seems like we don't have a voice as victims," Ruxin's son Yun Wang said earlier this week.
On Friday morning Brown appeared back before a judge as the district attorney tried to determine the legitimacy of the funds which had been raised online. Brown's attorney maintained her innocence and said that she has the right to bond out of jail, as does anyone else accused of a crime.
"We didn't just put this fundraiser out there to people we didn't know," said Dawn Harrington who testified on Myeisha's behalf.
But Yun Wang says his family is concerned that given Brown's prior criminal history, something might happen if she's released before she can be tried for Ruxin Wang's death, "She could kill another person, so this is a danger to the community."
The post on the fundraising website "Funded Justice," makes no mention of the homicide charges that Brown is currently in jail for.
A judge though determined that the money raised was legitimate and not obtained in an illegal manner. Based on a prior ruling the 17-year-old can remain out of jail so long as she has a GPS monitoring bracelet and does not leave the state of Tennessee.
"We're just worried for the safety of the community. It's sad that her life has been ruined like this but it was a choice she made and her history shows she has no remorse," Yun Wang said after the hearing.
Ruxin Wang had been in the United States for barely two months. He was with his wife had traveled from China to visit their son Yun Wang who's lived in Nashville for nearly two decades. Ruxin died just short of the couple's 50th wedding anniversary.
