2 men arrested in slaying of Chinese student

Two men have been accused of killing a Syracuse University student from China during a drug deal robbery in upstate New York, authorities said on Friday.

Onondaga County Sheriff Gene Conway said Cameron Isaac, 23, and Ninimbe Mitchell, 20, were charged with second-degree murder, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the shooting of Yuan Xiaopeng.

Authorities said Isaac and Mitchell were arrested Thursday by investigators who raided and searched their homes in Syracuse and North Syracuse. Both men are being held without bail. The names of their lawyers weren't immediately available from authorities.

During a news conference, Conway said the three men agreed to meet on Sept 30 for a drug deal behind an apartment complex in suburban DeWitt, New York, about five miles from Syracuse. He would not say who initiated the meeting, what drugs were involved or whether the robbery was planned. DeWitt police had responded to 911 calls from residents in the apartment complex who reported hearing gunshots.

A black Chevrolet Camaro believed to be Yuan's car with custom license plates that read "SWAG PIP" was found in a parking lot near where his body was found. Yuan's Facebook page had a picture of him sitting on a car fitting that description.

District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said the main charge could be upgraded to first-degree murder if it's that determined Isaac and Mitchell intended to kill Yuan as part of the robbery. He said the murder weapon hasn't been recovered.

Yuan, 23, was a junior studying mathematics. He was from Qingdao in East China's Shandong province and had been in Syracuse since 2011.

Fitzpatrick said Yuan's family, some of whom came to Syracuse to meet with authorities earlier in the fall, have been told about the arrests.

Yuan posted on Chinese social media website Weibo an August 2015 letter from Syracuse University that indicated he had been expelled from the university but allowed to return on disciplinary probation. The letter did not say why Yuan was on probation, and university officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

In October, the Chinese Consulate General in New York called for the case to be solved expeditiously and that the “legitimate rights and interests of local Chinese students are not infringed”.