Abby Choi — born Choi Tin-fung on 15 July 1994 — grew up in an ordinary family that later prospered through construction and mining businesses on the mainland. She married young, at 18, to Alex Kwong, and had two children before the marriage ended in divorce. She went on to build a new family with Chris Tam, with whom she had two more children and held a wedding ceremony in 2016. Despite the divorce, she had maintained a close relationship with her former husband and his family. By the time of her death her estimated personal net worth was over HK$100 million, and she had more than 100,000 followers on Instagram. But those who knew her described her in simpler terms: her current partner remembered her as attentive and caring toward her family; her mother described her as filial. She had co-founded Paomes Charitable Organisation, dedicated to helping stray animals. The public image and the private person, by most accounts, were not very far apart.

Police traced Abby Choi's movements through GPS records and CCTV footage, and the picture they assembled pointed to a premeditated crime motivated by a financial dispute — specifically, a luxury apartment in Kadoorie Hill, Kowloon Tong, one of Hong Kong's most prestigious addresses, which Choi had reportedly purchased but placed in the name of her former father-in-law, Kwong Kau. Seven people were ultimately arrested in connection with the killing, including her former husband Alex Kwong, his brother Anthony, his parents, and several others who allegedly assisted in concealing evidence or helping Alex Kwong attempt to flee Hong Kong by boat. Alex Kwong was apprehended after an unsuccessful escape attempt by sea. It was alleged that Kwong Kau, a former police officer, had masterminded the crime. Under Hong Kong law, a murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.

The case sent a shock through Hong Kong that went beyond the horror of the crime itself. For many residents, the brutality of what was done to a young woman by people she had trusted — people who remained part of her life despite a divorce — cut to something deeply unsettling about the proximity of violence to intimacy. Thousands of fans and members of the public offered condolences. Hong Kong actor Aaron Kwok and his wife Moka Fang, who were close friends with Abby Choi, expressed their devastation publicly. The school attended by her children offered counselling sessions. The community near the village in Tai Po where her remains were found performed Taoist rituals to calm her spirit. Her funeral was held on 18 June 2023, four months after her disappearance. Her mother made public tributes to her eldest daughter and spoke of the memories they had shared.

In December 2023, Alex Kwong and two former in-laws faced additional charges of preventing Choi's burial. Legal proceedings continued through 2024. Abby Choi's mother filed a civil court injunction to prevent the sale of the apartment at the centre of the dispute, seeking a declaration that her daughter had been its true beneficiary owner. The case prompted Hong Kong to look again at a string of serious historical crimes and to ask what the justice system owes to victims and their families. What it cannot give back is the life of a woman who was, by every account, loved — by her children, her partner, her mother, her friends — and who was killed at 28 for a piece of property. She deserved a great deal more time than she was given.