Yukai Yang, a 22-year-old chemistry student, has been accused of surreptitiously poisoning his roommate, Juwan Royal, with a chemical called thallium.
According to a press conference held by the District Attorney, Yang made Royal sick over a period of several months by poisoninghim with the chemical.
Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said that Yang admitted to mixing the chemical, which is tasteless and odorless, into food and drinks into their shared fridge without Royal's knowledge. Thallium, Morganelli said, can be fatal if consumed.
Royal became sick several times in the spring because of the alleged poisoning. His symptoms, which became worse over time, included nausea, dizziness, shaking, and vomiting, per Morganelli.
Police said that Royal, who graduated from Lehigh in the spring, is still suffering from residual thallium poisoning, although he was not given a lethal dose.
In the midst of this, Royal's room was vandalized last Spring. His property was damaged and "N-word get out of here" was scrawled on a wall.
At that point, Royal began to suspect that Yang was behind his mysterious sickness and the vandalism, the DA said. When authorities questioned Yang in May, he was arrested and charged with ethnic intimidation, institutional vandalism, and criminal mischief related to the vandalism.
As for the thallium, Yang first told police that he intended to use chemicalon himself if he did poorly on an exam.
But on Thursday, Yang, an international student from China, turned himself in. He has since been charged withattempted homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault,and reckless endangerment, per Morganelli.
"The Lehigh University Police Department has worked closely with the District Attorney's Office on the investigation and will continue to do so," a spokesperson for Leigh University told INSIDER. "From the outset, our concern has been the health and safety of the victim of these alleged behaviors and, as such, Lehigh staff and faculty have been providing support, services and assistance."
Morganelli said its unclear what Yang's motives were, calling his behavior "weird and bizarre."
"Mr. Royal was as somewhat dumbfounded by this as anyone else, Assistant District Attorney Abraham Kassis said during the press conference. "He believed they had a fairly cordial relationship as roommates.
