Murder of Abby Choi

Abby Choi Tin-fung was a Hong Kong fashion model, influencer and socialite who became one of the city's most recognised faces in the luxury and fashion world before she was murdered in February 2023. Born on 15 July 1994 in Hainan, mainland China, she moved to Hong Kong with her family as a young child and grew up to build a career that took her to Paris Fashion Week and onto the pages of Elle, Harper's Bazaar and Vogue, as well as the cover of L'Officiel Monaco shortly before her death. She had amassed more than 100,000 followers on Instagram and was also known for co-founding a charity that rescued stray animals.

Choi's personal life was closely entwined with her professional one. She married Alex Kwong Kong-chi in 2014 at the age of eighteen and the couple had two children before divorcing, though she continued to support his family financially, including buying a multi-million dollar apartment in Kadoorie Hill for her children and former in-laws. She went on to have a relationship with Chris Tam Fong-chun, with whom she held a wedding ceremony in 2016 and had two more children, making her a mother of four in total.

Choi was reported missing on 21 February 2023 after she failed to arrive to collect her daughter from school. She had last been seen getting into a car driven by her former brother-in-law, Anthony Kwong, who she had hired as her personal driver. Three days later, on 24 February 2023, her dismembered remains were discovered at a village house in Tai Po, with parts of her body hidden inside a refrigerator and a pot of soup. The brutality and apparent premeditation of the killing shocked Hong Kong, a city where violent crime is rare, and drew international media attention.

Four people were arrested in connection with the killing, including her ex-husband Alex Kwong, his brother Anthony Kwong, their father Kwong Kau, and their mother Jenny Li Sui-heung, with three more later arrested over an alleged attempt to help Alex Kwong flee Hong Kong. Prosecutors allege the murder was planned over a dispute involving a luxury apartment Choi had bought for her former in-laws and wished to sell. Several of the accused have already been sentenced for related offences, while Alex Kwong, Anthony Kwong and Kwong Kau went on trial for murder in September 2026, a case prosecutors say was carefully premeditated and expected to last roughly eight weeks.

Choi's death prompted an outpouring of grief from friends, fellow celebrities and members of the public, many of whom were disturbed by the graphic nature of her killing. Her family held a ritual to pay respects to her in March 2023 and a funeral in June 2023, while her case reopened public conversation in Hong Kong about past high-profile murders and renewed debate, especially among mainland Chinese commenters, about the absence of the death penalty for severe crimes.