(Zhang Family Photo via AP, File) PEORIA, Ill. (AP) The Latest on the trial of man charged in slaying . Christensen, 30, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison last month in the June 2017 kidnapping and killing of Yingying Zhang, a 26-year-old University of Illinois graduate student who had . However, even with massive searches and attractive cash rewards announced, the few leads the police got led to nothing. Yingying Zhang was a Chinese national enrolled at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign as a visiting student. She called Christensen a demon. By this time, Zhangs family flew in from China and helped in the search. In fact, the details of how Zhang died, which came out during trial, were awful. Was her body ever found? An officer met with the professor and other colleagues of Zhang, who said they had not been able to contact her for several hours. She exited the bus and tried to flag down another one, but it continued past her without stopping. Revisiting Yingyings story at this moment is not only relevant, but also necessary. For a woman, the most dangerous place is often the home. 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. Author pages are created from data sourced from our academic publisher partnerships and public sources. The badge was found by a motorist about two-and-a-half miles from Christensen's apartment. My height makes me more visible. When the police searched his car, nothing stood out of the ordinary at first glance. 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. I go back to the video and let the clock rewind. Red with rage, the old man exclaims: If the U.S. does not address this case properly, well kill one or two American students in China.. As the FBI listened on, Brendt revealed a terrifying truth to his girlfriend. By defending features in the U.S. judicial process, I was in fact defending the life I had worked so hard to achieve. However, he soon broke down and told authorities that he had picked up an Asian girl, but she was not in his car for a long time. Also part of the case that was sealed: a motion to exclude evidence of a lost Illinois State Police badge found on the roadway four days after the disappearance of Yingying Zhang. 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. University of Illinois PoliceYingying Zhang. 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. Missing From Urbana, Illinois. Like her, I had grown up in a provincial city in China and clung to academic excellence as the only way out. Its sadly ironic that prisons are called penitentiaries or correctional facilities, while theyre designed for neither repentance nor rehabilitation but segregation and retribution. I find a clue in the jury notes. Beyond the immediacy of war, when is a state justified to kill? Would love your thoughts, please comment. Send it to The Daily Beasthere. The heart of this question is not about measuring the harms of specific conduct but mapping the contours of state authority. Her phone was disabled moments later. 15. Yingying Zhang was known as a compassionate, talented, joyous, and intelligent woman. Co-Author. Brendt Christensen, a former graduate student, has been charged with kidnapping and killing her. Verified email at umn.edu. However, soon, through the lenses of CCTVs, the police learned that the answer might be a lot closer to home than people thought. The affidavit filed after Christensens June 2017 arrest provides chilling details; it says that authorities examined Christensens phone and alleges that he accessed a website entitled Abduction 101 and sub-threads that were called things like perfect abduction fantasy and planning a kidnapping. He had also worked as a Physics class teaching assistant. 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. Deceased/Not Found IL - Yingying Zhang, 26, Urbana, 9 June 2017 #11 *GUILTY* Thread starter liltexans; Start date Jul 2, 2017; . Brendt Christensen, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole in Yingying Zhangs murder, said he put her body in three separate trash bags and threw them in a dumpster. The night ended with me being helped into an Uber, where I stayed for the next three hours. University of Minnesota. posted in All, Life Thoughts on 03/22/2021 by yingying 0 Comments. Yingying never made it to the leasing office. Prosecutors said Christensen raped, choked and stabbed Zhang before beating her to death with a bat and decapitating her. As I was preparing to write this essay, I spent an evening at my favorite restaurant, where I ate dinner and sipped two glasses of wine by the bar. According to Bullis, who testified during Christensens trial, she felt very conflicted because she still cared for Christensen, but she also cared about what had happened to Zhang. Even as the family of Yingying Zhang acknowledges the near impossibility of her remains ever being found, . When Yingying Zhang went missing on June 9, 2017, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was thrown into chaos as people searched frantically for the visiting Chinese scholar. I feel sorry that Ive brought knowledge of this gruesome crime to people dear to me, but Ive always felt responsible for Yingyings death, that Im complicit by my profession. But the Zhang family understands that the authorities are still considering an attempt to locate and recover Yingyings remains.. I stare at the slide for a very long time. Associate Professor, Tsinghua University - Cited by 8,825 - Nanomaterials - Nanochemistry - Carbon nanotubes Apr 7, 2021 Her accusations were never presented to the jury. Christensen, 30, was sentenced to life without parole. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. In a string of angry messages, I picked apart her arguments and refuted them one by one. Friends offered up advice in the comments below. My biggest concern is that the suspect wont get a severe punishment, Yingyings father says in the film. April 02, 2022. However, theres no doubt, sadly, that Zhang is dead. The documentary ' Finding Yingying ,' chronicles the disappearance of Zhang and bringing her justice while capturing the devastating impact on her . After moving to the U.S., I would soon realize how my body is perceived differently here and slowly learn how to navigate space with unwanted attention. It was also revealed that Christensen was photographed attending a rally for the victim. By the penalty phase, Christensen had already been found guilty. "A lot of news coverage of . It doesnt reveal whom Christensen was allegedly speaking with at the time. 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. The answer is no. About. Zhang's father said if his daughter's remains are ever found, her family plans to take her body back to China. . The alternative for a crime of this nature is life in prison. Christensen lured Zhang into his car at a bus stop on campus posing as a police officer with the . 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. People line up outside the federal courthouse for the first appearance of Brendt Christensen on July 3, 2017. The answer is no. Two ABC news teams tell the tale of two families, tragically connected by the 2017 murder of U of I scholar Yingying Zhang. Follow Author. In this security video from the B-4 parking garage on North Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, just after 2 p.m. Friday, Ms. Zhang is seen standing on the east side of Goodwin Avenue as a black Saturn Astra (unknown, According to the University of Illinois police. Yingying Zhangs remains were never found. 116313 (2021) [j53] view. 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. According to Beckett, a follow-up investigation determined the dumpster where Christensen placed Yingying Zhang's body was picked up three days after her murder, and the contents were taken to a private landfill near Danville, where they were compacted at least twice. Zhang's father said if his daughter's remains are ever found, her family plans to take her body back to China. Murderer Brendt Allen Christensen. In a series of surveillance videosUIUC has more than 2,000 cameras on campusshe gets on a bus. First published on August 7, 2019 / 6:12 PM. 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 a follow-up investigation, authorities determined that the contents of Christensens dumpster were picked up on July 12, 2017, compacted at least twice, and taken to a private landfill near Danville, Illinois, the statement said. I felt fine the next morning, as if it were all just a dream. She called the FBI after seeing Christensen's picture on television when he was arrested in June 2017. 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. In the just-unsealed documents was the story of a woman who claimed Christensen choked and sexually assaulted her sometime in 2012 or 2013. To be a Chinese student or scholar in the U.S. is to chart a lonely existence. The sentencing phase of the trial took place two weeks later. The U.S. Attorney for Central Illinois, John Milhiser, as he spoke, Zhang's mother, Lifeng Ye, sobbed and the woman standing next to her appeared to be holding her upright. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. The moment the page loaded, I looked away. If you are interested to know more about this specific case and where Zhangs killer is now, we have got you covered. Ying Ying Zhang, Her Name Means "A Twinkle Of Light," But Her Light Was Taken Away; who Was Yingying Zhang? Christensen is not a social, charismatic person, and so is unlikely to recruit others to commit violent acts on his behalf. Five jurors agreed with this point. Her body has never been found. 13. Beyond the immediacy of war, when is a state justified to kill? 10. CHICAGO (WLS) -- The ABC7 I-Team on Friday obtained never-before-heard information in case of murdered University of Illinois Chinese scholar Ying Ying Zhang. She wanted to make a difference in the world.. Yingyings family believed that Christensen should be executed. Statement from family's lawyers: @WCIA3 pic.twitter.com/SaYqeuwE3h. . Brendt also had a masters in Physics but dropped out from his Ph.D. program and instead claimed that he was searching for employment. (Matt Masterson / WTTW News) 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. Show more detail . 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. Authorities narrowed their search down to 18 four-door Saturn Astra vehicles registered in Champaign County and interviewed the owners. 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. According to the affidavit, authorities allege that he admitted to driving around the UI campus when he observed an Asian female with a backpack standing at a corner appearing distressed. Citations 15. She was supposed to check out an apartment to lease and never showed up. Tropical Geography 2023, Vol. However, was Zhang's body ever found? Co-Authors. Thus, Zhangs family continues to mourn Zhangs death without even the smallest comfort of being able to lay her body to rest. My mother forwarded many of these reports to me. This detail is particularly heartbreaking as members of law enforcement are frequent perpetrators of sexual violence, especially toward women of color, but are rarely held accountable. Her body never found, the family still hoping to someday bring her . One of them, a law student, noted that the presumption of innocence is a first principle and a literally foundational American value.. 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