Philip Jedidiah Wong, 27, who murdered a woman at an Eagan hotel has been sentenced to prison, Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena announced.
Judge Tanya O'Brien sentenced Wong to a 240-month term for the 2023 murder of Jianqin Zhang, 53 of China. Wong will receive credit for 658 days served.
Wong entered a guilty plea in March 2025.
According to the criminal complaint, Eagan police officers were called to a hotel at 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 12, 2023, on the report of an unconscious female found by a hotel employee. When they arrived, they found Zhang face down on the bed and cold to the touch. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Earlier that day, Wong went to the hotel as he responded to an online ad for a massage. After the massage, Wong paid the victim for sex. Police learned during the investigation that Wong was told by Zhang there were hidden cameras in the room and she requested more money. In response, Wong “choked her out" but believed she was still breathing.
An autopsy completed by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office determined the cause of death to be strangulation and the manner of death a homicide.
Wong remains in custody at the Dakota County Jail awaiting transfer to the Department of Corrections.