Yingying Zhang was a visiting scholar from China at UIUC. Read More: Where is Brendt Christensen Today? Lifeng Ye, mother of slain University of Illinois scholar Yingying Zhang, cries out in grief as her husband, Ronggao Zhang, left, addresses the media after a jury found Brendt Christensen guilty . Ms Zhang's parents and . Rights of a criminal suspect were seen as obtuse hurdles inhibiting a swift conviction. To view it as an isolated incident, an example of the dangerous few, would be to miss the underlying context and eschew collective responsibility. Im one year older than Yingying. It took more than two years for Christensen to be convicted. She told police that her husband was a psychopath and that she was 80% certain he had kidnapped and killed the Chinese scholar. He confessed to posing as an undercover police officer and picking Zhang up before bringing her back to his apartment. I laugh. Publications. What happened to Yingying could never have happened in China, she insisted, echoing the talking points on state media that U.S. authorities were only paying attention to the case because China is strong. However, was Zhangs body ever found? He seemingly boasted about choking, sexually assaulting, and beating Zhang to death with a baseball bat. The badge was found by a motorist about two-and-a-half miles from Christensen's apartment. Beckett said, after the trial, Zhang's family met with federal prosecutors on July 25, and were told what Christensen's defense attorneys had revealed about what he did with Zhang's remains. He seemed like a normal physics grad student. Ying Ying Zhang, Her Name Means "A Twinkle Of Light," But Her Light Was Taken Away; who Was Yingying Zhang? He was arrested on June 30, his 28th birthday. 13. Yingying Zhang Zhang; Zhonghua Gao (Contributorpp. With no news of the Chinese student for several hours, university authorities decided to approach the police and file a missing person report. They also found evidence of a part of the car being cleaned extra thoroughly, which hinted towards Brendt hiding something. 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The sentencing phase of the trial took place two weeks later. Paradoxically, it also offers a primal sense of security. I too came to the U.S. for my Ph.D., and studied at the University of Chicago, a two-hour drive from UIUC, where many of my colleagues and friends work. She loved to sing and was part of a band called Cute Horse. She arrived in the U.S. that April as a visiting scholar, her first time living abroad, and had planned to enroll in the Ph.D. program at UIUC that fall. I had known this before, but seeing the words displayed on his page invoked an intense nausea that I doubled over. It opens with a pair of photos. With trucks taking their loads to landfills across the city, authorities figured that her remains might have been spread around several landfills by the time Brendt was convicted. Follow Author. He later advised, however, he must have been either sleeping or he was playing video games at his residence all day. He admitted the car belonged to him, the affidavit said. Yingying majored in environmental engineering. its incredibly painful, Bullis said in court, according to CBS Local. 224. Brendt Christensen, a former graduate student, has been charged with kidnapping and killing her. Christensen, 30, was sentenced to life without parole. 116313 (2021) [j53] view. The portion of that private landfill that was being actively used at the time was about half a football field in width, and, by the time Christensens attorneys informed authorities about the remains, they would have purportedly been covered by at least 30 feet of fill from later garbage hauling., It is evident that any attempt to recover Yingyings remains would be complicated and expensive, would require government oversight and the cooperation of the landfill owners and would have no certainty of success, said the statement. During the trial, several people, including Terra Bullis, testified against Brendt. Her son should say where my daughter is., Lifeng Ye, the mother of Yingying Zhang, cries out in grief as her husband Ronggao Zhang, far left, addresses the media after a jury found Brendt Christensen guilty of her murder. One student who had Christensen as a TA wrote on Reddit, I had him 3 years ago for physics 212 TA. And thus, even though they said that the FBI is probably looking into it, they did state that it would be quite challenging a process. The driver, to his credit, took me to my friends place. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Yingying Zhang, Clinical Social Work/Therapist, Chicago, IL, 60640, (872) 274-4302, As a first generation immigrant, I recognize the unique experience individuals face in life. While Zhang was waiting at the bus station, cameras caught a black Saturn Astra pass her by. "We condemn his brutal and malicious actions and we hope that he suffers for the rest of his life as he made Yingying suffer in the final moments of her life," he said through an interpreter. In 1988, Democratic nominee for president Michael Dukakis would see his candidacy doomed as he answered no to this debate question: If Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer? He lost to George H. W. Bush, whose team ran a series of attack ads, using the likeness of one Black criminal to stoke racial fear. ABC '20/20' brings into focus the kidnapping and murder of a Chinese scholar named Yingying Zhang who went missing on 9 June 2017. I also recommend this Washington Post article, which links to a partial transcript of the trial. On June 15, 2017, Christensen was interviewed at the FBIs Champaign office. He then confessed that he decapitated Zhangs body and disposed of the parts separately to reduce the chances of discovery. On the other hand, the threat of sexual violence is effectively sanctioned as a condition of incarceration, and 60 percent of sexual assaults in prison or jail are committed by staff. Today, over 140 countries have abolished the death penalty by law or in practiceat times against popular support for retentionincluding every country in Europe with the exception of Belarus and nearly half of the countries in Africa. Japan Web Proxy Server*****Jiang Yuzhou was silent for a moment before saying: "You are still young, I can understand that you don't want to be bound by marriage early, but I think we are very suitable, if you want, we can not talk about marriage and talk about a relationship like other couples, you don't have to Just find someone to deal with."In his opinion, Gu Nai suddenly had a boyfriend . Her name was Yingying Zhang. Prosecutor Eugene Miller alleged that Zhangs blood was found on a bat that Christensen used to strike Zhang, as well as in other places in his apartment, according to WTTW-TV. Former US doctoral student Brendt Christensen, 29, has been found guilty of the violent abduction and slaying of Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang in 2017. Of course Yingying's Charley Project casefile has the basics. One popular response claimed that the situation would have been better had Yingying been Black, Hispanic, or Muslim as these minority groups wield more political power in the U.S. than Asians, especially in a blue state like Illinois. She clutches the mic. Authorities interviewed Christensen who allegedly told authorities that, between 2 and 3 p.m. on June 9, 2017, the day that Zhang disappeared, he could not initially recall his whereabouts. Missing Since 06/09/2017. Deceased/Not Found IL - Yingying Zhang, 26, Urbana, 9 June 2017 #11 *GUILTY* Thread starter liltexans; Start date Jul 2, 2017; . The only emotion I sensed during those hours of paralysis was an eerie calmness akin to closure, like I had spent my entire life treading the edge of a cliff and finally had to surrender to the air. A grief stricken Lifeng Ye, second from right, the mother of slain University of Illinois scholar Yingying Zhang, is supported by a friend Lin Guiping and Yingying's brother Zhengyang Zhang, right . The potential site was alleged to be a landfill in Vermilion County, along the Illinois-Indiana border. According to ABC 7, after Christensens trial, it was revealed that he told his lawyers that he put Yingyings remains in three separate garbage bags and placed them in a dumpster outside his Champaign apartment. Authorities think Zhangs body might be in multiple landfills, but thats never been determined for sure. Reactions: ShHolmz, altojack, MajorHoople and 8 others. One of them, a law student, noted that the presumption of innocence is a first principle and a literally foundational American value.. My biggest concern is that the suspect wont get a severe punishment, Yingyings father says in the film. Photo: Matt Dayhoff/Journal Star via AP. The FBI placed Christensen under surveillance and monitored his conversations. Yingying Zhang; Liangtao Li; Jiarui Guo; Yang Zhang; Xufeng Niu; Yang Wang ; Liang Hu et al. One says that I might have had an allergic reaction, which is the version I swear to because the alternative is unthinkable. (Zhang Family Photo via AP, File) PEORIA, Ill. (AP) The Latest on the trial of man charged in slaying . Since the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic caused by a new beta . Penculikan dan pembunuhan Yingying Zhang terjadi di Urbana, Illinois, Amerika Serikat pada tanggal 9 Juni 2017 ketika Zhang, seorang sarjana tamu di Universitas Illinois Urbana-Champaign, diculik oleh Brendt Allen Christensen, seorang warga kota Champaign dan alumni jurusan fisika di universitas yang sama. Brendt Christensen is a former Ph.D. student researcher from Champaign who was convicted by a federal jury of kidnapping in the death of Yingying Zhang, a 26-year-old University of Illinois visiting scholar from China. Determined to find a closure to the case, authorities decided to turn to CCTVs as a last-ditch effort to locate her. August 7, 2019 / 6:12 PM Photo: Stephen Haas/The News-Gazette via AP. I find a clue in the jury notes. It was labeled Government Exhibit 1A and shown on the first day of the trial. Her body has never been found. The trial, from that moment on, was no longer about the certitude of Christensens guilt but whether he deserved to die. According to his lawyers, Christensen placed her butchered body in three separate garbage bags, which he tossed in a dumpster outside his Champaign apartment before disposing of her personal items among trash receptacles around the Champaign-Urbana area. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. The night ended with me being helped into an Uber, where I stayed for the next three hours. It was revealed that Brendt had dismembered her body and put it into separate garbage bags, which he kept outside his apartment only to be picked up by garbage trucks. While capital punishment has little effect in deterring criminal behavior, in the era of mass incarceration, vocal support of the death penalty has become an effective tool for elected officials, including judges and prosecutors, to signal their tough stance on crime, hence appealing to the nations racist impulses and the publics thirst for vengeance. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Yingying Zhang's mother, Lifeng Ye, sobs as her husband addresses the media. The family of murdered Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang has finally learned what happened to the body of their beloved daughter. Zhang's body has not been found. On the other hand, law enforcement also learned that Brendt was in an open marriage with Michelle Zortman while dating Terra Bullis at the same time. That I had emerged unscathed made everything seem surreal. However, was Zhang's body ever found? Brendt Allen Christensen, a physics graduate student, will appear in federal court on Monday, on charges of abducting 26-year-old Yingying Zhang in June. About. Yingying Zhang was born on December 21, 1990 in China. If Yingyings remains are ever found, we will return to take her home to China where she belongs, her father said, according to ABC 7. U. of I. the use of decision analytic models in cost . 3.2.Expression profiles of HMGB1, and TLR4 signaling molecules during APAP-induced liver injury. Thus, Zhangs family continues to mourn Zhangs death without even the smallest comfort of being able to lay her body to rest. 2021 | Journal article DOI: 10. 216-228)Shanghai JiaoTong University Press (in . The kidnapping and murder of Yingying Zhang occurred in Urbana, Illinois on June 9, 2017, when Zhang, a visiting Chinese scholar at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was abducted by Brendt Allen Christensen, a Champaign resident and former physics graduate student at the university. I could not move, could barely see or speak, but I was lucid. Friends offered up advice in the comments below. Referenced Authors. He told authorities that he was at home around the time in question. Beckett said the defense team for her killer, Brendt Christensen, disclosed the location of Zhang's body as part of a failed immunity agreement. That was just hours before Zhang was seen getting into Christensen's black Saturn Astra, the last time she was seen alive. Verified email at umn.edu. My mother insisted that predators would not care for an old woman like her, though she was barely 40. The investigators said that even with the information provided by Christensen, the recovery of Zhangs body will be tough. 1 hospitalized after fire in West Town, CFD says, Jupiter and Venus appear to 'kiss' in the sky, Belvidere Jeep assembly plant shut down indefinitely. But as I research this story, she appears so young to me, like a distant reminiscence. Police searched her apartment and found nothing. "If you have any humanity left in your soul, please end our torment. I have seen this logo before. Federal prosecutors have said Christensen posed as an undercover officer to lure Zhang, 26, into his car on June 9, 2017. Zhang's father said if his daughter's remains are ever found, her family plans to take her body back to China. Would love your thoughts, please comment. At 2:38 p.m,, the apartment manager sent Zhang a text message and received no response. I am a research fellow at the Centre for Health Economics (CHE), University of York. Christensen was accused of saying on tape: Shes gone. The alternative for a crime of this nature is life in prison. She was even decapitated. That recording provided them with the key piece of evidence outlined in the affidavit. / CBS Chicago. At the end of the verdict form, the jury added a mitigating factor: Mr. In 2013, Zhang graduated from Sun Yat-sen University at . That alleged admission built on previous statements that Christensen made to the FBI in which he allegedly confessed that Zhang had been in his car, although he claimed she left it voluntarily, the affidavit says. It is evident that any attempt to recover Yingyings remains would be complicated and expensive, would require government oversight and the cooperation of the landfill owners and would have no certainty of success, said Steve Beckett, attorney for the Zhang family, according to ABC. Most of them would not have known the context behind my post. "It is evident that any attempt to recover Yingying's remains would be complicated and expensive, would require government oversight and the cooperation of the landfill owners, and would have no certainty of success," he said. After her education, she planned on marrying her fianc and eventually returning to China to become a teacher. To her, supporting capital punishment in this case is not an abstract position; its about thinking through what true justice is for a family that has lost so much. While the case was put to rest in court, the same cannot be said for Zhangs family who continue to live the loss of their daughter, as stated by them, was their pride and joy. Based on the statements made by Christensen to federal prosecutors in exchange for immunity, he butchered her body in three separate garbage bags and put them in the dumpster outside his apartment. At the sentencing phase of the Christensen trial, one of the aggravating factors the jury agreed with was Yingyings particular vulnerability due to her small stature and limited ability to communicate in English. Ten thousand years of civilization and were still relying on physical size for protection. Zhangs father, Ronggao Zhang, said on Wednesday: If what that man said is true, it further confirms that he is a heartless and evil person. June 16, 2021. Yingying never made it to the leasing office. She is singing a song about youth, where time is all future, brimming with possibilities. Ph.D., 2016, Xiamen University. Yingying Zhang is seen entering a black Saturn Astra on the east side of Goodwin Avenue in Urbana. There, a young woman in a black dress and boots is shredding her voice to the beat. An officer met with the professor and other colleagues of Zhang, who said they had not been able to contact her for several hours. Jul 2021; Xu Junhao; Yingying Zhang . 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