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 . its incredibly painful, Bullis said in court, according to CBS Local. The U.S. is the only Western democracy that regularly executes people. By the penalty phase, Christensen had already been found guilty. As the FBI listened on, Brendt revealed a terrifying truth to his girlfriend. Her boyfriend, Xiaolin Hou, testified that the family's only hope was that Zhang's body will be found so they can bury her in China. On Friday, June 9, Yingying left the office during lunch hour to sign a lease for a new apartment across town. However, was Zhang's body ever found? She walks over and leans in the passenger side window. Born 12/21/1990, she grew up in the Jianyang District, Nanping City, Fujian Province, China. During the eight-and-a-half hours of deliberations, they asked the judge to clarify this question on the special verdict form: By whether Christensen is likely to commit more acts of violence, did it mean IN PRISON? In the just-unsealed documents was the story of a woman who claimed Christensen choked and sexually assaulted her sometime in 2012 or 2013. She left her quaint, mountain top home town after receiving a scholarship to study at the Chinese Academy . He told authorities that he was at home around the time in question. A memorial stone engraved with Yingying Zhang's name in both English and Chinese on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in June 2019, two years after her disappearance. Four days after the news broke, a post went viral on Chinese social media, If the Yingying Zhang case took place in China, with attention from the entire country, whats the probability that it would be solved within 48 hours?. In fact, the details of how Zhang died, which came out during trial, were awful. Facebook reminds me that I have a memory from four years ago. Court records that had been sealed during the trial of Brendt Christensen, who was convicted in her death, were just turned over to the I-Team. Brendt Christensen, 30, kidnapped, tortured and killed U of I scholar Yingying Zhang in 2018. Zhang was observed on video walking to an intersection and standing at a bus stop. At one point the driver had tried, but failed, to drag me out of his car. Thus, Zhangs family continues to mourn Zhangs death without even the smallest comfort of being able to lay her body to rest. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Christensen lured Zhang into his car at a bus stop on campus posing as a police officer with the . As the information was provided under immunity, prosecutors were not able to use or communicate that information to anyoneincluding her familyduring the criminal trial, according to a statement from the Zhang family released on Wednesday morning. Yingying Zhang. The image was used in the missing person bulletin by the police and the FBI. Ive never felt as acutely aware of my identity as a Chinese woman in the U.S. My body is a constant reminder of the many ways society renders it vulnerable. The same jurors took less than 90 minutes to convict Christensen last month in the killing of Yingying Zhang. The case is being featured on 20/20 on November 15, 2019. My mother forwarded many of these reports to me. He seemingly boasted about choking, sexually assaulting, and beating Zhang to death with a baseball bat. I was furious at my mother, who appeared oblivious to the cruelty and repeatedly defended the inhumane practice. Age 26 years old. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Days after the murder, Christensen said he put Yingyings clothing, backpack, cell phone, books and other personal items into a large duffel bag and then distributed them in dumpsters throughout the Champaign-Urbana area. The International Journal of Human Resource Management Informa UK Limited 1 - 25 0958-5192 2021/08 [Refereed] An Eco-Systematic View of Cross-Sector Fintech: The Case of Alibaba and Tencent. Her accusations were never presented to the jury. Copyright 2023 WLS-TV. 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. From as far as I could remember, my mothers fervid fear of my sudden vanishing filled the air around her. As per Zhangs family lawyers statements, the contents of the dumpster were taken to Danville, where it was compacted twice. CHICAGO (CBS) -- The family of slain Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang said Wednesday they now know where her body might have been dumped, but that it might be impossible to find her remains more than two years after her brutal murder. By the time they provided that information, it was almost 18 months after she would have been placed in the landfill, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene Miller, ABC reported. Its clear from an affidavit in the case that authorities thought they had their man, but they needed more evidence to seek an arrest, especially because they did not know where Zhangs body was. Prosecutors said Christensen raped, choked and stabbed Zhang before beating her to death with a bat and decapitating her. The song is Avril Lavignes Complicated. If I look back on the early aughts, when life revolved around school and heartbreak was about boys, Avrils voice will accompany those reels of memory. I had known this before, but seeing the words displayed on his page invoked an intense nausea that I doubled over. 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. . I was too heavy! I joke with my friends. A large media contingent awaiting the start of the Yingying Zhang news conference at @Beckett6Steve's office in Urbana. The 26-year-old visiting scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, disappeared June 9, 2017. He then confessed that he decapitated Zhangs body and disposed of the parts separately to reduce the chances of discovery. Western critics point to this as another example of the countrys abysmal human rights record, while Chinese officials and prominent academics claim that the legitimacy of capital punishment is ingrained in Chinese tradition and endorsed by its people. The Chinese government closely followed Brendt Christensens trial, and the prosecution was determined to seek the death penalty. Zhang's father said if his daughter's remains are ever found, her family plans to take her body back to China. The night ended with me being helped into an Uber, where I stayed for the next three hours. Missing From Urbana, Illinois. Christensen was accused of saying on tape: Shes gone. HER BODY HAS NEVER BEEN FOUND. In a flurry of anguished messages, she told me to stop wearing high-heels so I could run faster in case of danger. The family of murdered Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang has finally learned what happened to the body of their beloved daughter. However, on June 29, 2017, Christensen was captured on audio recording while under law enforcement surveillance explaining how he kidnapped Zhang. In August 2019, Zhangs family was notified of the potential site of Zhangs remains by the prosecutors. Among the hundreds of exhibits used in the trial, theres a 90-second clip. Yingyings grandfather is sitting next to him. Less than 10 percent of murders and 20 percent of rapes are committed by strangers. I find a clue in the jury notes. By 9:24 p.m., an associate professor reported that Zhang was missing. She wanted to make a difference in the world.. Title. When confirming details about Christensen, I googled his name and clicked on his LinkedIn profile. Yingyings disappearance quickly made headlines on both sides of the Pacific. Apr 7, 2021 Christensen, a former physics Ph.D. candidate at the University of Illinois, raped, choked, and stabbed 26-year-old Zhang before beating her with a baseball bat and decapitating her in June 2017. 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. Publications 10. h-index 3. Alpha was very healthy and energetic otherwise. It was also revealed that Christensen was photographed attending a rally for the victim. Eager to clear her boyfriends name, Bullis agreed to wear a wire for the FBI and accompany her boyfriend on a memorial walk for Zhang. Previous Articles Next Articles The Empowerment of Rural Women through Digital Entrepreneurship: A Case of Typical Villages in Qianpai Town, Guangdong Province Now, among the familiar sight and through the familiar sound, I also see Yingying. Deceased/Not Found IL - Yingying Zhang, 26, Urbana, 9 June 2017 #11 *GUILTY* Thread starter liltexans; Start date Jul 2, 2017; . By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Vice Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content. Berkeley host: Professor Dan Portnoy Research Summary. Torture during detention is commonplace in China. However, calls and texts to Zhangs phone went unanswered, and the worry heightened with time. The attorney argued he had mental health issues and the case was essentially to set up the next phase of the trial, Christensens sentencing. A minute later she gets in the car and it drives off. After the trial ended and public attention moved on, Yingyings disappearance has stayed with me like a needle floating in my veins. (. A world safe and free means that no one is left behind. Send it to The Daily Beasthere. She was last seen on surveillance video at her . There were also statements from Christensen's wife at the time of the investigation in the newly unsealed records. WGN-TV reported that he raped and beheaded Zhang, and implied he had 12 other victims, but this was never proven. Both the darkness and the light are part of what makes us human. The last public execution took place in Kentucky in 1936, when 20,000 people gathered to watch the hanging of a young Black man convicted of rape. Classification Endangered Missing. The chest infection was so severe that her heart did not respond to CPR during surgery. Tropical Geography 2023, Vol. Her body has never been found. Prisons cannot solve the problem of prevalent harm in society and are in fact part of the problem, as they perpetuate the logics of power and domination, of segregation and dehumanization, which are also the logics of patriarchy and white supremacy. Yingying Zhang is seen entering a black Saturn Astra on the east side of Goodwin Avenue in Urbana. They also found evidence of a part of the car being cleaned extra thoroughly, which hinted towards Brendt hiding something. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get day-to-day video coverage of what's going on in China and beyond!Three years have passed since the kidnapping and mur. Claim Author Page. Share; . Small 2022 . April 27, 2022. In that split second of irrational fear, I took solace in the fact that he is behind bars. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Amidst a global pandemic caricatured as a product of Asian pathology, my birth country has descended further down the abyss of authoritarianism, my adopted home teeters on the brink of fascism, and relations between the two superpowers are at their lowest point in decades. 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. But I also knew the real point of tension between us in relation to this case had nothing to do with criminal procedure. 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. My research interests include economic evaluations of complex (public) health interventions and personalized healthcare. Yingying ZHANG | Cited by 11,350 | of Tsinghua University, Beijing (TH) | Read 163 publications | Contact Yingying ZHANG With over 6,000 Chinese students, accounting for 12 percent of its student body, UIUC is home to the largest Chinese community among U.S. universities. ABC Murdered University of Illinois student Yingying Zhang in a family photo. MRS Proceedings 1753 . . When we turn away from the face of the condemned, were in fact refusing to look at ourselves, to confront our culpability in systems of oppression, to recognize the glimmer of humanity in the darkest corner. Sex Female. Attorney Steve Beckett, who represents Zhangs family, said last week that defense lawyers provided the information about Zhangs remains as part of an immunity agreement in November 2018, telling prosecutors that Zhangs body was likely in a landfill in Vermilion County in Illinois. Friday the I-Team reported information that government and defense attorneys both wanted kept quiet during the trial. 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