A Little Canada man has pleaded guilty to strangling a woman who was working as a prostitute in an Eagan hotel room in 2023.

Philip Jedidiah Wong, 27, told police he paid the woman for sex but said he didn’t learn she was dead until someone from her “organization” called and told him, according to the criminal complaint charging him with second-degree intentional murder and first-degree manslaughter.

Wong said he did not believe she was dead and thought it was a scam and they were trying to get more money from him, the complaint says. However, Wong’s roommate told investigators he said he “choked her out” after she tried to blackmail him.

Wong reached an agreement with the prosecution and pleaded guilty last week to second-degree intentional murder. The agreement calls for a downward departure from state sentencing guidelines to between 15 and 20 years in prison. The manslaughter charge will be dismissed at sentencing, which is set for July 22.

Wong entered an Alford plea on the element of intent, meaning he maintains innocence while acknowledging the state likely has enough evidence to convict him.

Wong’s attorney, Adam Johnson, argued in a February court document that the state had no direct evidence establishing that he intended to take the woman’s life. Johnson pointed out that Wong told officers she was alive when he left.

He left his hat behind

According to the complaint, the woman, identified as 53-year-old Jianqin Zhang, was discovered dead Oct. 12, 2023, by a housekeeper and Zhang’s friend at Microtel Inn & Suites, east of Interstate 35E and west of Lexington Avenue.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office found hemorrhaging on Zhang’s neck, along with petechiae — small spots caused by burst blood vessels — on her eyes, mouth, lips and scalp. The cause of death was ruled to be strangulation. She was from Shanghai, China.

A friend told police that Zhang was a sex worker and that she checked on her because the “organization” had not heard from her for a while after meeting with a client. The friend gave police a phone number of the client, later identified as Wong.

Video surveillance from the hotel shows Wong entering the hotel around 2:54 p.m. wearing an Atlanta Falcons hat, and leaving the hotel about an hour later.

Zhang was the only registered guest of the room, which she had reserved from Sept. 30 to Oct. 14. After a search warrant was executed on the room, police found several cellphones, used and unused condoms, a locked wallet, bloody sheets, pill bottles, food, clothing and an Atlanta Falcons hat.

One of the phones belonged to Zhang, and an examination showed a message was sent to the “organization” at 3:39 p.m. in Mandarin. When translated in English, the message said, “walk.” She stopped answering her phone around 3:45 p.m.

Police searched Wong’s apartment and found clothing that appeared to match those he was seen wearing on video surveillance. His cellphone was also seized.

Wong gave a statement to police, saying he responded to an online ad for a massage and cuddle. He said he met Zhang in her room, paying her $200 for a massage, then another $50 for sex. He said he took a shower before leaving. He realized on his way home that he forgot his hat, but did not go back for it.

Wong’s roommate then told police that he had told her Zhang said she had a hidden camera in the room and wanted more money from him. “In response, (Wong) ‘choked her out,’ but he believed she was still breathing,” the complaint states. “(Wong) then searched the room for the hidden camera, and left when (the victim’s) phone rang.”

In a follow-up interview with police, Wong said he didn’t have anything to add to his earlier statement.

Court records show Wong has no prior criminal convictions, beyond two petty misdemeanor driving offenses.