A US former doctoral student has been spared the death penalty for kidnapping and murdering a 26-year-old Chinese scholar, prompting widespread anger in China. Last month, 30-year-old Brendt Christensen was convicted for abducting Zhang Yingying from a bus stop, then raping, choking and stabbing her before beating her to death with a bat and decapitating her.
Prosecutors had called for the death penalty, which Zhang’s family also supported, but after eight hours of deliberation, a jury in Peoria, Illinois, was unable to reach a unanimous decision. Christensen will automatically receive a sentence of life behind bars without the possibility of parole. News of Christensen’s sentencing spread quickly in China, where it was widely reported. On the microblog Weibo, details of the case were among four of the top trending topics, with many cursing the jury and the US legal system.
Zhang’s case has shocked families in China, where many send their children to study abroad in the US. In 2018, there were more than 300,000 Chinese students in the country, according to the US Department of State’s bureau of educational and cultural affairs.
