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One student who had Christensen as a TA wrote on Reddit, I had him 3 years ago for physics 212 TA. 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. If even one juror opposed, then the life sentence was applied. 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. Shes gone forever. Citations 15. The case was dismissed. He was convicted two years later. In the just-unsealed documents was the story of a woman who claimed Christensen choked and sexually assaulted her sometime in 2012 or 2013. Associate Professor, Tsinghua University - Cited by 8,825 - Nanomaterials - Nanochemistry - Carbon nanotubes The badge was found by a motorist about two-and-a-half miles from Christensen's apartment. Height and Weight 5'0 - 5'8, 110 - 140 pounds. On June 29, 2017, while Christensen was under law enforcement surveillance, agents overheard him explaining that he kidnapped Zhang. The remains of Yingying Zhang, a Chinese scholar at University of Illinois who was murdered in 2017, could be in a landfill in central Illinois, according to multiple reports, though her body has . Christensen, 30, abducted Zhang Yingying on campus in June 2017 before beating her to death with a baseball bat and decapitating her. Got a tip? The apartment was off-campus, and thus, Zhang had to travel quite a bit from her university to get to it. (MORE: Man found guilty of killing visiting Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang) Mike Christensen believes Zhang's killing could have been avoided if counselors took action then and there. The memorial garden for Yingying Zhang outside Campbell Hall on the UIUC campus, near where she was last seen. A large media contingent awaiting the start of the Yingying Zhang news conference at @Beckett6Steve's office in Urbana. How Christensen may cause harm, or be harmed, within prison walls did not appear to be of concern. She stands by the bus stop beneath a tree. My mothers idea of a safe space shifted with my departure, from the immediacy of our home to the territorial bounds of a homeland. Brendt Christensen, 30, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for the kidnapping and killing two years ago of 26-year-old Yingying Zhang, a student at the University of Illinois Urbana . We may be sizable in number, but we are rarely seen or heard. Missing From Urbana, Illinois. Three months before he kidnapped, raped, and murdered Yingying, Christensen had sought help at the universitys counseling center, where he admitted to suicidal and homicidal ideations. Born 12/21/1990, she grew up in the Jianyang District, Nanping City, Fujian Province, China. After the trial, media asked for access to hundreds of documents sealed during the case. The defense attorneys opening statement shocked everyone in the courtroom. Brendt claimed that he had dropped the girl off at a place that looked like a residential area, but could not pinpoint the exact location providing further cause for doubt. Christensen has never revealed what he did with Zhang's remains. The FBI approached Bullis, who was very confident about Brendts innocence. What does the cage accomplish? 224. "There is nothing in the world that we want more than to find our daughter and bring her home. Apr 7, 2021 Its sadly ironic that prisons are called penitentiaries or correctional facilities, while theyre designed for neither repentance nor rehabilitation but segregation and retribution. Calls to her cell phone went unanswered. Police said that, on June 9, 2017, Zhang went to UIs Turner Hall where she conducts research and then returned to her apartment for lunch. Classification Endangered Missing. U. of I. The black sedan that picked up Yingying was quickly identified as belonging to one Brendt Christensen. In England and colonial America, as legal historian Stuart Banner writes, the death penalty circa 1700 was the equivalent of prison todaythe standard punishment for a wide range of serious crimes including arson, theft, and counterfeiting. A journalism student at Northwestern University at the time of Yingyings disappearance, Shi had assisted in the search efforts and witnessed the familys pain from the very beginning. (. According to his lawyers, Christensen placed her butchered body in three separate garbage bags, which he tossed in a dumpster outside his Champaign apartment before disposing of her personal items among trash receptacles around the Champaign-Urbana area. 15. After this, he allegedly disposed her personal items, around the Champaign-Urbana area. Yingyings disappearance affirmed my mothers long-held belief that a foreign country is too dangerous for a Chinese woman like me. However, was Zhang's body ever found? The family of murdered Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang has finally learned what happened to the body of their beloved daughter. He confessed to posing as an undercover police officer and picking Zhang up before bringing her back to his apartment. Shraman Mitra. People from the FBI also testified that Zhangs DNA and her blood were found inside Brendts apartment, which unmistakeably linked him to the crime. If Yingyings remains are ever found, we will return to take her home to China where she belongs, her father said, according to ABC 7. (Photo by Mark Van Moer) Inset, top: Yingying Zhang (Courtesy University of Illinois Police Department). To date, Yingying Zhang's remains have never been found. Video showed her at an Urbana, Illinois, bus stop getting into a black Saturn vehicle, and, after that, she vanished without a trace. . Yingying Zhang, a 26-year-old Chinese scholar, traveled to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in April 2017 to pursue research in agriculture. At 2 p.m., a black Saturn Astra, driven, police say, by Christensen was observed on video passing Zhang at the bus stop and then circling back to her location, according to the affidavit. Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) exhibits the characteristics of strong metastatic ability and a high recurrence rate, and M2-type macrophages play an important role in this process. For those opposed to the death penalty, is replacing the needle with a cage the only option? (Zhang Family Photo via AP, File) PEORIA, Ill. (AP) The Latest on the trial of man charged in slaying . After nine days of trial and less than two hours of deliberations, the jury found Christensen guilty. The same power structures undergird the institutions tasked with holding her killer accountable. The attorney argued he had mental health issues and the case was essentially to set up the next phase of the trial, Christensens sentencing. Joined Aug 8, 2019 Messages 18 Reaction score 210. Rights of a criminal suspect were seen as obtuse hurdles inhibiting a swift conviction. They dont. Her phone was disabled moments later. The judge has denied bail for Christensen. Ph.D. student at Unversity of Minnesota, Twin Cities. In one recording, Christensen is accused of saying that Zhang fought him, and that he took her back to his apartment and held her there against her will last month, CNN reported. Brendt Christensen, a former Ph.D. student at the same university, was convicted of Zhangs murder in 2019. 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. 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 . He does not have to be beaten, my mother wrote. I have seen this logo before. With Zhang reported missing, there was a massive uproar in the university. But I also knew the real point of tension between us in relation to this case had nothing to do with criminal procedure. The Chinese government closely followed Brendt Christensens trial, and the prosecution was determined to seek the death penalty. Dated June 1, 2017, it concludes with a line in English, Life is too short to be ordinary!. Yingyings grandfather is sitting next to him. The U.S. Attorney's office in the Central District of Illinois said Zhang's remains have not 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. A minute later she gets in the car and it drives off. October 1, 2021, 7:30am. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. The judge confirmed that its the former. I am passionate . She is singing a song about youth, where time is all future, brimming with possibilities. YINGYING ZHANG WAS ABDUCTED AND MURDERED IN 2017. When the police questioned Brendt, he denied being involved in Zhangs disappearance. At this time, they think the most prudent thing to do is to allow the authorities to handle the situation and undertake the recovery of Yingyings remains if it is feasible, according to the statement. Follow Author. Zhang was observed on video walking to an intersection and standing at a bus stop. Most of them would not have known the context behind my post. Friday the I-Team reported information that government and defense attorneys both wanted kept quiet during the trial. YingYing Zhang was a student from China who was murdered in Illinois. Who, or what, keeps a community safe? 3.2.Expression profiles of HMGB1, and TLR4 signaling molecules during APAP-induced liver injury. A source close to the investigation said the landfill has not been searched. After a mistrial, Hernandez, 56, was convicted at a second trial in 2017. The sentencing phase of the trial took place two weeks later. 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. My mother forwarded many of these reports to me. She walks over and leans in the passenger side window. I watched it again this spring, when haunting images from the mass shooting in Atlanta were still in the news, and every day seemed to bring fresh reports of harassment or assault against people who look like me. However, on June 29, 2017, Christensen was captured on audio recording while under law enforcement surveillance explaining how he kidnapped Zhang. Photos of Yingying Zhang on a tree on the University of Illinois campus in Urbana, Ill. Photo: Stephen Haas/The News-Gazette via AP, This is the last entry in Yingyings journal. Like her, I had grown up in a provincial city in China and clung to academic excellence as the only way out. "We hope it will be a solemn place of reflection to all who visit, a place to remember the joy Yingying brought to her family and to everyone she met during her life," her father said. 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. Claim Author Page. I go back to the video and let the clock rewind. Publications. 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. Ive spoken with many friends and colleagues in physics about this case. She wanted to make a difference in the world.. Death penalty or life in prison: What if neither leads to justice? In addition to this, a memorial stone with Zhangs name was placed on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A new documentary, Finding Yingying, premiered at film festivals last year to critical acclaim and is now available on streaming platforms. 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. Facebook reminds me that I have a memory from four years ago. It was found during a search of his Macon County jail cell. Previous research data suggested that Anemoside A3 (A3), a monomeric component of Pulsatilla Chinensis, could prevent and treat TNBC by converting M0 macrophages into M1 immunogen phenotypes. Christensen was found guilty on June 24, 2019, of kidnapping resulting in death and two counts of lying to investigators. Small 2022 . However, just three minutes later, the car returned, and Zhang was seen getting into it. A grief stricken Lifeng Ye, second from right, the mother of slain University of Illinois scholar Yingying Zhang, is supported by a friend Lin Guiping and Yingying's brother Zhengyang Zhang, right . She told police that her husband was a psychopath and that she was 80% certain he had kidnapped and killed the Chinese scholar. Thus, Zhangs family continues to mourn Zhangs death without even the smallest comfort of being able to lay her body to rest. Superior Unidirectional Water Transport and Mechanically Stable 3D Orthogonal Woven Fabric for Human Body Moisture and Thermal Management. Missing Since 06/09/2017. Yingyings life was precious. Yingying majored in environmental engineering. 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. Born on December 21, 1990, in Nanping, Fujian Province, Ying Ying Zhang was a Chinese student at the University Of Illinois. Christensen was convicted of kidnapping and killing Zhang at trial in June, and later was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release. Prosecutors and Zhang's family had pushed for the death penalty, but a jury decision on that had to be unanimous. Today, over 140 countries have abolished the death penalty by law or in practiceat times against popular support for retentionincluding every country in Europe with the exception of Belarus and nearly half of the countries in Africa. The trial, from that moment on, was no longer about the certitude of Christensens guilt but whether he deserved to die. Christensen's defense attorneys admitted at trial that he killed Zhang, and focused on convincing the jury to spare him from the death penalty. The jury was not told about his death wish. On June 12, 2017, they went to the 2500 block of W. Springfield Ave. in Champaign and saw the car registered to Christensen. He could have been a colleague, a classmate, someone I encountered at a conference: a white guy who takes whiteness and manhood for granted, who uses nonchalance to mask his insecurity, who can act polite but will never see me as his equal. I felt fine the next morning, as if it were all just a dream. Yingying Zhang was a Chinese national enrolled at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign as a visiting student. 0000-0003-3769-079X; 0000-0003-3819-5467; . HER BODY HAS NEVER BEEN FOUND. ILLUSTRATION:JORDAN LEE. 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. Her remains have never been found. 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. He also claimed he choked Zhang for 10 minutes as she fought for her life. When the police searched his car, nothing stood out of the ordinary at first glance. However, Brendt never returned for a second counseling session like he was asked to. While the case was put to rest in court, the same cannot be said for Zhangs family who continue to live the loss of their daughter, as stated by them, was their pride and joy. Based on the statements made by Christensen to federal prosecutors in exchange for immunity, he butchered her body in three separate garbage bags and put them in the dumpster outside his apartment. One of them, a law student, noted that the presumption of innocence is a first principle and a literally foundational American value.. Zhangs family reportedly provided the first gift for the endowment. It was invaluable. Beckett said, after the trial, Zhang's family met with federal prosecutors on July 25, and were told what Christensen's defense attorneys had revealed about what he did with Zhang's remains. The female entered his vehicle and attempted to show Christensen where she needed to go through her cell phone map app.. 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. To do this, representative systems must be strategically selected to stimulate students' motivation. Zhang's father said if his daughter's remains are ever found, her family plans to take her body back to China. A world safe and free means that no one is left behind. Several lamented that while foreigners in China are showered with privileges, Chinese people overseas endure second-class status. A woman who testified during the trial said Christensen showed her a silver sheriff's star when he asked her to get into his car. By 9:24 p.m., an associate professor reported that Zhang was missing. To lure female victims into his car, Christensen claimed to be a police officer. In June 2017, Yingying Zhang, a young scholar from China went missing from a bus stop near the University of Illinois.The entire encounter was caught on nearby surveillance cameras. 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. 2021 | Journal article DOI: 10. "An attorney whos been representing the family is evidently holding a news conference this afternoon in Urbana to discuss information the government provided the family following trial based on statements Christensen made to his attorneys late last year and prior to trial," a spokesperson for the attorney's office said in a statement. Prosecutor Eugene Miller alleged that Zhangs blood was found on a bat that Christensen used to strike Zhang, as well as in other places in his apartment, according to WTTW-TV. That I had emerged unscathed made everything seem surreal. He seemingly boasted about choking, sexually assaulting, and beating Zhang to death with a baseball bat. electronic edition via DOI; unpaywalled version; references . Her life was swallowed by the dark currents of race, gender, and border politics. The 26-year-old visiting scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, disappeared June 9, 2017. The strange and twisted life of Brendt Christensen: claims to have killed over 12 people already, vows Yingying Zhang's body will never be found (June, 2019) . The horrific details of her death were made public when Brendt Christensen was caught on an audiotape, talking about how he killed Zhang and then disposed of her body, stating that her family would never find her. The moment the page loaded, I looked away. The drive from the airport is the longest distance in the world. To be a Chinese student or scholar in the U.S. is to chart a lonely existence. They have since divorced. Yingyings father, Ronggao ZhangIf, upon hearing this, later said, If what that man said is true, it further confirms that he is a heartless and evil person We now understand that finding (Yingying) may be impossible. After this news came to light, a memorial service was held for those grieving the death of Yingying Zhang at a church outside Champaign in August 2019. She loved to sing and was part of a band called Cute Horse. She arrived in the U.S. that April as a visiting scholar, her first time living abroad, and had planned to enroll in the Ph.D. program at UIUC that fall. The remains of Yingying Zhang, a Chinese scholar at University of Illinois who was murdered in 2017, could be in a landfill in central Illinois, according to multiple reports, though her body has still not been found, authorities say. Yingying Zhangs remains were never found. The answer is no. Yingying Zhang is seen entering a black Saturn Astra on the east side of Goodwin Avenue in Urbana. Christensen was found guilty on June 24, 2019, of kidnapping resulting in death and two counts of lying to investigators. Photo: Matt Dayhoff/Journal Star via AP. She clutches the mic. Torture during detention is commonplace in China. Revisiting Yingyings story at this moment is not only relevant, but also necessary. After her education, she planned on marrying her fianc and eventually returning to China to become a teacher. 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