Brooklyn-based Vanity Fair writer kicked off jury in murder trial after posting about 'hot FBI agent' on social media, dubs her punishment 'horny jail'

A writer for Vanity Fair was kicked off the jury of a Brooklyn murder trial because she was caught posting to social media about a 'hot FBI agent' who had been assigned to the case.

Delia Cai, a senior correspondent for the magazine and published author, was assigned to the case of Antony Abreu, one of four men charged with plotting and carrying out a hit against a business rival who was shot in the back of the head while leaving a New York City karaoke bar in 2019.

Cai posted to X about the case of Abreu - a convicted drug trafficker who has already seen one of his cohorts convicted of murder-for-hire - Monday, writing: 'didn't get to see the eclipse bc I'm on federal jury duty but I did get to look at a hot fbi agent.'

She wasn't done discussing the agent, admitting that she was probably skirting the rules in a follow-up post.

'We're literally not allowed to talk to each other outside the courtroom … if I say hi he legally has to ignore me… don't they know this is how I fall in love.' 

Delia Cai, a writer for Vanity Fair was kicked off the jury of a Brooklyn murder trial because she was caught posting to social media about a 'hot FBI agent' who had been assigned to the case

By Tuesday, Cai had been thrown off the jury and naturally, documented that on X as well.

'Anyway so i got kicked out of jury duty for posting about it .... learn from this what you will,' she said.

She was reportedly chastened by Judge Carol Bagley Amon and dismissed from the trial after the court had discovered her posts, according to the New York Daily News.

Cai apologized and in an interview following her ejection, said she was simply trying to be funny before being sent to what she termed 'horny jail.' 

'I've never served jury duty before. I never interacted with the criminal justice system. I think I went in pretty naively,' she said. 

'It was not my intention to make light of something as serious as a murder trial.'

Cai covers pop culture and writes long-form celebrity profiles for the magazine and published her debut book, Central Places, in 2023.

Ultimately, she admitted she posts so much about the details of her life that she has 'posting disease.' 

Cai, a senior correspondent for the magazine and published author , was assigned to the case of Antony Abreu, one of four men charged with plotting and carrying out a hit against a business rival who was shot in the back of the head while leaving a New York City karaoke bar in 2019

Cai posted to X about the case of Abreu - a convicted drug trafficker who has already seen one of his cohorts convicted of murder-for-hire - Monday, writing: 'didn't get to see the eclipse bc I'm on federal jury duty but I did get to look at a hot fbi agent.'

'I'm sure if I thought about it for five more minutes, I would have understood that that was hugely inappropriate,' she added.

She described herself as feeling 'dead in the brain' at the time and 'just trying to be funny' during the murder-for-hire case. 

'In this case I made a really bad internet joke, and there were consequences,' Cai said, adding that ultimately, she's 'horrified' about what happened. 

'That's just like the mode I am with life in general. I'll tweet about getting dumped. I did not understand the stakes. I did not take the gravity of the situation into account.'

DailyMail.com has reached out to Cai for further comment. 

Abreu was charged in 2022 alongside Qing Ming Yu, also known as 'Allen Yu,' You You known as 'Eddie,' and Zhe Zhang for the death of Xin Gu, 31, a business rival of Yu.

Prosecutors said Yu, the former CEO of Amaco Management & Consulting Inc., had ordered his nephew, Eddie, to kill Gu, who was once Yu's apprentice but had broken out on his own and won over several contracts allegedly promised to Yu's firm. 

U.S. Prosecutor Breon Peace condemned the hit job, saying in a statement: 'As alleged, the defendants callously used gun violence to resolve a business dispute, reducing the value of a man's life to a dollar figure, and bringing trauma and mourning to the community.'  

Four men - including Abreu - were arrested and charged in 2022 for the murder of Xin Gu, 31, who was shot in the back of the head while leaving a Queens karaoke bar in 2019 (pictured)

Prosecutors said Abreu was the masked gunman who was captured on video stalking Gu. Abreu allegedly worked for Zhe Zhang on the request of You You, the nephew of Qing Ming Yu, who prosecutors said put out the hit on Gu, a business rival

'Prosecuting killers will always be a top priority for this office—whether the defendant pulls the trigger, or pays someone else to do his dirty work for him.' 

According to court filing on the FBI's investigation into the case, Gu began working for Yu in 2015 at Amaco, a Manhattan-based development company which managed the renovation of retail projects.

Investigators said that Gu worked at the firm for three years but ultimately felt undercompensated by Yu, so the upstart went on to form his own company where many of Yu's clients followed. 

Investigators said that Yu had attempted to cancel building permits, block lines of supply and lure subcontractors away from Yu to hinder the success of the 'Project,' but the efforts failed and Amaco shut down by 2018. 

Prosecutors said that Yu then reached out to his nephew, who enlisted the help of Zhang and Abreu to tail Gu on February 12, 2019, as the successful developer was celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year with more than 100 people. 

Gu went on to attend an after party at a karaoke bar in Flushing, and when he decided to head home and called for an Uber to pick him up, Abreu allegedly ran up behind him and shot Gu in the back of the head. 

The horrifying scene was captured on a surveillance camera, which showed a masked man who was walking on the sidewalk suddenly run towards Gu and shoot him just as he was about to get into the Uber. 

When Gu hit the ground, the man stood over him shot him multiple times as the Uber driver sped off.

Qing Ming Yu was convicted in connection with the killing in 2023.