Death penalty upheld for car thief who killed baby
By Li Qian |
July 25, 2013, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A HIGHER court in northeast China's Jilin Province yesterday upheld the death sentence of a car thief who killed a toddler that led to nationwide anger.
Zhou Xijun, 49, who killed a two-month-old baby during a car robbery in the provincial capital Changchun in March, was sentenced to death on May 27. The Changchun Intermediate People's Court also fined him 50,000 yuan (US$8,150) and ordered him to pay more than 17,000 yuan as compensation to the bereaved family.
Zhou filed an appeal on June 3, asking for a lighter sentence because he had surrendered to the police and had confessed to his crimes.
The Jilin Higher People's Court rejected his appeal.
The court said Zhou surrendered when he was cornered and had nowhere to escape. Considering the gravity of his crime and the social upheaval it had caused, he could not be treated leniently.
The unfortunate incident occurred on March 4 when the boy's parents left the baby in the back seat and went to a grocery store in Changchun.
Zhou drove off with the SUV but did not see the baby in the car. He claimed he used to be a manager in a company and had a car, but lost it after losing his job. Embarrassed, he decided to steal a car, Xinhua news agency reported.
After the baby boy started crying, a frightened Zhou strangled him to death and buried his body at Yongfa Township. Zhou said he was aware of the massive manhunt in the city from the radio.
He wanted to put the baby by the roadside but was afraid that the baby would freeze to death. He said he killed the baby in a moment of panic.
"I was too nervous and frightened. Impulse is a devil," he told the court.
Zhou Xijun, 49, who killed a two-month-old baby during a car robbery in the provincial capital Changchun in March, was sentenced to death on May 27. The Changchun Intermediate People's Court also fined him 50,000 yuan (US$8,150) and ordered him to pay more than 17,000 yuan as compensation to the bereaved family.
Zhou filed an appeal on June 3, asking for a lighter sentence because he had surrendered to the police and had confessed to his crimes.
The Jilin Higher People's Court rejected his appeal.
The court said Zhou surrendered when he was cornered and had nowhere to escape. Considering the gravity of his crime and the social upheaval it had caused, he could not be treated leniently.
The unfortunate incident occurred on March 4 when the boy's parents left the baby in the back seat and went to a grocery store in Changchun.
Zhou drove off with the SUV but did not see the baby in the car. He claimed he used to be a manager in a company and had a car, but lost it after losing his job. Embarrassed, he decided to steal a car, Xinhua news agency reported.
After the baby boy started crying, a frightened Zhou strangled him to death and buried his body at Yongfa Township. Zhou said he was aware of the massive manhunt in the city from the radio.
He wanted to put the baby by the roadside but was afraid that the baby would freeze to death. He said he killed the baby in a moment of panic.
"I was too nervous and frightened. Impulse is a devil," he told the court.
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