Stabbing student sentenced to death
Source: Xinhua |
April 23, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
YAO Jiaxin, a university student who murdered a young mother after accidentally running into her with his car last year, was sentenced to death yesterday by a court in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
Yao, 21, a student at the Xi'an Conservatory of Music, ran into cyclist Zhang Miao at about 10:30pm on October 20.
Fearing Zhang would remember his license plate number and cause trouble for him, he stabbed her to death, according to the Intermediate People's Court of Xi'an.
The court also handed down a life-long revocation of Yao's political rights in yesterday's first instance judgment and ordered Yao to pay 45,498.50 yuan (US$6,992) compensation to Zhang's family.
Yao fled the scene after stabbing the victim and injured two others as he sped off. He denied the murder in an interview with police on October 22, but surrendered himself to police in the company of his parents and admitted to the killing the next day, the court said.
Yao is said to have admitted killing the woman because he feared the "woman farmer would be hard to deal with."
On the night of her death, Zhang, 26, the mother of a two-year-old boy, was returning home from her temporary job as a cafeteria assistant at the Chang'an campus of Northwest University.
Police said she suffered only slight injuries in the traffic accident, including a minor fracture to her left leg.
During the trial, Yao's lawyer argued that Yao committed the killing "in the heat of passion" and pleaded for leniency, saying Yao had "surrendered himself to police and depression was to blame, to some extent, for the killing."
However, the lawyer's plea was dismissed by prosecutors and judges, who said Yao did not deserve leniency.
Yao did not try to help the victim after hitting her, but instead resorted to murder to hush up the accident, making his crime extremely serious and eliminating the possibility of a lessened punishment, the court said yesterday.
"The motive is extremely despicable ... the measures are extremely cruel ... and the consequence is extremely serious," the court judgment said.
Yao told the court, when asked by judges, that he needed time to consider whether to appeal the sentence.
The case aroused widespread public fury and suspicion over whether Yao's wealthy parents might use their influence to secure a lighter sentence.
Family members of Yao and Zhang, as well as hundreds of journalists and students, were present for the judgment.
The Xi'an Conservatory of Music posted an article on its official website yesterday, saying that the conservatory's teachers and students supported the court's judgment against Yao and that the conservatory was planning to enhance legal education among its teachers and students.
Yao, 21, a student at the Xi'an Conservatory of Music, ran into cyclist Zhang Miao at about 10:30pm on October 20.
Fearing Zhang would remember his license plate number and cause trouble for him, he stabbed her to death, according to the Intermediate People's Court of Xi'an.
The court also handed down a life-long revocation of Yao's political rights in yesterday's first instance judgment and ordered Yao to pay 45,498.50 yuan (US$6,992) compensation to Zhang's family.
Yao fled the scene after stabbing the victim and injured two others as he sped off. He denied the murder in an interview with police on October 22, but surrendered himself to police in the company of his parents and admitted to the killing the next day, the court said.
Yao is said to have admitted killing the woman because he feared the "woman farmer would be hard to deal with."
On the night of her death, Zhang, 26, the mother of a two-year-old boy, was returning home from her temporary job as a cafeteria assistant at the Chang'an campus of Northwest University.
Police said she suffered only slight injuries in the traffic accident, including a minor fracture to her left leg.
During the trial, Yao's lawyer argued that Yao committed the killing "in the heat of passion" and pleaded for leniency, saying Yao had "surrendered himself to police and depression was to blame, to some extent, for the killing."
However, the lawyer's plea was dismissed by prosecutors and judges, who said Yao did not deserve leniency.
Yao did not try to help the victim after hitting her, but instead resorted to murder to hush up the accident, making his crime extremely serious and eliminating the possibility of a lessened punishment, the court said yesterday.
"The motive is extremely despicable ... the measures are extremely cruel ... and the consequence is extremely serious," the court judgment said.
Yao told the court, when asked by judges, that he needed time to consider whether to appeal the sentence.
The case aroused widespread public fury and suspicion over whether Yao's wealthy parents might use their influence to secure a lighter sentence.
Family members of Yao and Zhang, as well as hundreds of journalists and students, were present for the judgment.
The Xi'an Conservatory of Music posted an article on its official website yesterday, saying that the conservatory's teachers and students supported the court's judgment against Yao and that the conservatory was planning to enhance legal education among its teachers and students.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
