He seemingly boasted about choking, sexually assaulting, and beating Zhang to death with a baseball bat. Shell never be found.. We were the same age. Yingying Zhang, Clinical Social Work/Therapist, Chicago, IL, 60640, (872) 274-4302, As a first generation immigrant, I recognize the unique experience individuals face in life. Given the size of the landfill, the amount of time that has passed, and the amount of additional garbage since dumped in the landfill, Beckett said any attempt to find the body would be very costly. However, theres no doubt, sadly, that Zhang is dead. 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. Its sadly ironic that prisons are called penitentiaries or correctional facilities, while theyre designed for neither repentance nor rehabilitation but segregation and retribution. 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 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) . In one of the audio recordings, according to ABC, Christensen described how Zhang fought back, saying, that it was supernatural almost how [Zhang] just didnt give up. He then claimed he attacked Zhang with a baseball bat before decapitating her. It creates and reinforces a binary: us versus them, good versus evil, the deserving versus the unwanted. Police noticed that the Saturn in video footage had a sunroof and cracked front passenger hubcap, as did Christensens car, alleged the affidavit. I was furious at my mother, who appeared oblivious to the cruelty and repeatedly defended the inhumane practice. June 16, 2021. Murderer Brendt Allen Christensen. My research interests include economic evaluations of complex (public) health interventions and personalized healthcare. Ying Ying Zhang, Her Name Means "A Twinkle Of Light," But Her Light Was Taken Away; who Was Yingying Zhang? "We condemn his brutal and malicious actions and we hope that he suffers for the rest of his life as he made Yingying suffer in the final moments of her life," he said through an interpreter. Most of them would not have known the context behind my post. Classification Endangered Missing. Wenbing Luo, Jian Wang, Yingying Zhang: Software Quality Evaluation Model based on Multiple Linear Regression and Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Method. The potential site was alleged to be a landfill in Vermilion County, along the Illinois-Indiana border. 13. Her body never found, the family still hoping to someday bring her . Claim Author Page. Christensen's attorneys told prosecutors that the day after he killed Zhang, Christensen placed her body in three garbage bags, and put the bags in the dumpster outside his apartment building, Beckett said. On June 15, 2017, Christensen was interviewed at the FBIs Champaign office. 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. Would UIUC be a safer place if some of its resources for policing and surveillance went toward mental health services and supporting international students? Tragically, and . Copyright 2023 WLS-TV. I was too heavy! I joke with my friends. Her body was never found. How Christensen may cause harm, or be harmed, within prison walls did not appear to be of concern. The answer is no. 0000-0003-3769-079X; 0000-0003-3819-5467; . 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. Facebook reminds me that I have a memory from four years ago. She called the FBI after seeing Christensen's picture on television when he was arrested in June 2017. They have since divorced. The case is being featured on 20/20 on November 15, 2019. An officer met with the professor and other colleagues of Zhang, who said they had not been able to contact her for several hours. Brendt Christensen, a former graduate student, has been charged with kidnapping and killing her. The heart of this question is not about measuring the harms of specific conduct but mapping the contours of state authority. ID found on disambiguation page, needs clean-up. "A lot of news coverage of . Christensen is serving a life prison term. She had previously told people she was going to sign an apartment lease and would return shortly after. YINGYING ZHANG WAS ABDUCTED AND MURDERED IN 2017. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Cultural difference makes for a convenient excuse to validate the self and exoticize the other. Thus, Zhangs family continues to mourn Zhangs death without even the smallest comfort of being able to lay her body to rest. We share the same feelings. From Yangtze to Mars: The Fiery History of Chinas Space Program, The US Is Building Walls Around Science, and Were All Poorer for It. ABC reports that Bullis testified that she Christensen seemed excited and proud when he discussed killing Zhang. The same power structures undergird the institutions tasked with holding her killer accountable. After the trial, media asked for access to hundreds of documents sealed during the case. (Zhang Family Photo via AP, File) PEORIA, Ill. (AP) The Latest on the trial of man charged in slaying . The judge has denied bail for Christensen. 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. She wanted to make a difference in the world.. The family also said they are working with the University of Illinois to create a gravesite in her memory. She called Christensen a demon. 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 . First published on August 7, 2019 / 6:12 PM. Clothing/Jewelry Description A pink and white flannel long-sleeved shirt over a white shirt, jeans, white shoes, and a . While Zhang was waiting at the bus station, cameras caught a black Saturn Astra pass her by. At the sentencing phase of the Christensen trial, one of the aggravating factors the jury agreed with was Yingyings particular vulnerability due to her small stature and limited ability to communicate in English. Ten thousand years of civilization and were still relying on physical size for protection. 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.. It doesnt reveal whom Christensen was allegedly speaking with at the time. Zhang's body has never been found. Reports also claim that Brendt claimed to be a serial killer, but that claim has never been substantiated and is believed to be false. Tropical Geography 2023, Vol. She is gone. Brendt was also ordered to pay a hefty fine of $250,000 for each conviction. Death penalty or life in prison: What if neither leads to justice? Yingying Zhang (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Zhng Yngyng) (December 21, 1990 - June 9, 2017) was born in the city of Nanping, Fujian Province, to Ronggao Zhang and Lifeng Ye.Zhang has one younger brother, Zhengyang. Audio and video recordings were played for a federal jury in the murder-kidnapping trial of Brendt Christensen on Friday --- including a recording of Christensen's chilling account of how he kidnapped and murdered Yingying Zhang, a promising young environmental engineer from China in June 2017. A new documentary, Finding Yingying, premiered at film festivals last year to critical acclaim and is now available on streaming platforms. Hes also accused of stabbing and choking her and comparing himself to Ted Bundy. Tragically, and horrifically, her family has not been given that closure. Japan Web Proxy Server*****Jiang Yuzhou was silent for a moment before saying: "You are still young, I can understand that you don't want to be bound by marriage early, but I think we are very suitable, if you want, we can not talk about marriage and talk about a relationship like other couples, you don't have to Just find someone to deal with."In his opinion, Gu Nai suddenly had a boyfriend . 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. The music starts and a dam breaks in me. Zhang went missing on June 9, 2017, as she was headed to sign a lease for an off-campus apartment in Urbana. The menacing images appear to come alive, two monsters manifesting the paucity of our moral imagination. Steve Beckett, Zhangs family lawyer said, 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(Federal investigators) described for us that at this stage, with decomposition and then compaction, the size of the remains could be smaller than a cellphone.. A federal jury convicted Christensen in June. 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 . 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. "The Zhang family reports this as information they have received and cannot vouch for its truth," he said in a statement. Nanoscale thermal transport. 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 . 216-228)Shanghai JiaoTong University Press (in . We condemn his brutal and malicious actions and we hope that he suffers the rest of his life as he made Yingying suffer in the final moments of her life., He added, We now understand that finding her may be impossible.. Christensen lured Zhang into his car at a bus stop on campus posing as a police officer with the . Two ABC news teams tell the tale of two families, tragically connected by the 2017 murder of U of I scholar Yingying Zhang. The defense pointed to inconsistencies in her claims. Both the darkness and the light are part of what makes us human. 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 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. 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. Brendt Christensen was convicted of visiting Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang's 2017 murder. Thats because, not only was Christensen convicted in Zhangs death, but his lawyer revealed in court that he admits to murdering her. I saw the film for the first time in the fall of 2020, after a summer of protests for Black lives was met with raging police brutality. I replay this clip and reckon that Im again at fault for over-intellectualizing. However, was Zhangs body ever found? Yingying Zhang was born in 1990 in China and by the time she was 27, she had graduated with a Master Degree and had traveled to the United States to conduct research on photosynthesis at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The same jury who convicted him later split on the death penalty. Yingyings disappearance quickly made headlines on both sides of the Pacific. Race Asian. Several lamented that while foreigners in China are showered with privileges, Chinese people overseas endure second-class status. She stands by the bus stop beneath a tree. Four days after the news broke, a post went viral on Chinese social media, If the Yingying Zhang case took place in China, with attention from the entire country, whats the probability that it would be solved within 48 hours?. According to News Gazette, she testified that Christensen typed the following, showed it to her, and then deleted it: It was me. Yingying Zhang. Christensen mengajak Zhang untuk naik . Yingying Zhang. (Photo by Mark Van Moer) Inset, top: Yingying Zhang (Courtesy University of Illinois Police Department). 1007/S11426-021 . People line up outside the federal courthouse for the first appearance of Brendt Christensen on July 3, 2017. Illinois has outlawed the death penalty, but the case was tried in federal court. One of them, a law student, noted that the presumption of innocence is a first principle and a literally foundational American value.. Her boyfriend, Xiaolin Hou, testified that the family's only hope was that Zhang's body will be found so they can bury her in China. To her, supporting capital punishment in this case is not an abstract position; its about thinking through what true justice is for a family that has lost so much. Yingying Zhang was born on December 21, 1990 in China. My friends meant well. Two days later, he put her personal belongings including her clothes, backpack, cell phone, and books into a duffel bag, and drove around the Champaign-Urbana area, throwing them in various dumpsters. I could not move, could barely see or speak, but I was lucid. I had known this before, but seeing the words displayed on his page invoked an intense nausea that I doubled over. The Chinese government closely followed Brendt Christensens trial, and the prosecution was determined to seek the death penalty. Police searched her apartment and found nothing. To lure female victims into his car, Christensen claimed to be a police officer. April 27, 2022. And thus, even though they said that the FBI is probably looking into it, they did state that it would be quite challenging a process. At 2:38 p.m,, the apartment manager sent Zhang a text message and received no response. She clutches the mic. 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. Yingying Zhang was known as a compassionate, talented, joyous, and intelligent woman. As per Zhangs family lawyers statements, the contents of the dumpster were taken to Danville, where it was compacted twice. With over 6,000 Chinese students, accounting for 12 percent of its student body, UIUC is home to the largest Chinese community among U.S. universities. For me, for myself, the result today seems to tell me that I can kill anyone and I can kill anyone with any kind of cruel method and I will not need to die for it, Yingyings partner of eight years speaks to the press after the verdict. On June 12, 2017, they went to the 2500 block of W. Springfield Ave. in Champaign and saw the car registered to Christensen. 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. (2021 Rerelease) 02.01. . Very new to the country, Zhang still hadnt settled down properly when a devastating state of affairs snuffed out her wonderful life. A memorial stone engraved with Yingying Zhang's name in both English and Chinese on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in June 2019, two years after her disappearance. The night ended with me being helped into an Uber, where I stayed for the next three hours. 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. A jury convicted Christensen of all charges in her death after 90 minutes of deliberation in June. It was revealed that Brendt had dismembered her body and put it into separate garbage bags, which he kept outside his apartment only to be picked up by garbage trucks. My mind had filled in the rest of the plot. My friends suggest that I was drugged. When we turn away from the face of the condemned, were in fact refusing to look at ourselves, to confront our culpability in systems of oppression, to recognize the glimmer of humanity in the darkest corner. Reactions: ShHolmz, altojack, MajorHoople and 8 others. On Friday, June 9, Yingying left the office during lunch hour to sign a lease for a new apartment across town. What happened to Yingying could never have happened in China, she insisted, echoing the talking points on state media that U.S. authorities were only paying attention to the case because China is strong. Two months after Yingying went missing, her mother and younger brother arrived in the U.S. As seen about halfway through the film, the humble woman from Nanping weeps in the backseat of a car. The memorial garden for Yingying Zhang outside Campbell Hall on the UIUC campus, near where she was last seen. My mothers idea of a safe space shifted with my departure, from the immediacy of our home to the territorial bounds of a homeland. Furthermore, he was convicted on two additional counts of lying to the FBI, which netted him two 5-year sentences, which would run consecutively with the life sentence. The defense attorneys opening statement shocked everyone in the courtroom. The only logical explanation, as far as I can tell, is that the jurors were only thinking about violence outside prison, whether Christensen would be able to commit it himself (impossible) or persuade someone on the outside to (unlikely). By defending features in the U.S. judicial process, I was in fact defending the life I had worked so hard to achieve. Explore Scholarly Publications and Datasets in the NSF-PAR. She was 26. Christensen has never revealed what he did with Zhang's remains. 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. He was convicted two years later. Determined to find a closure to the case, authorities decided to turn to CCTVs as a last-ditch effort to locate her. Co-Authors. The fund had already amassed more than $30,000 by Wednesday morning. Yingying Zhang-Zhang; Sylvia Rohlfer; Jay Rajasekera . Because a unanimous verdict was not reached, Christensen was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. My biggest concern is that the suspect wont get a severe punishment, Yingyings father says in the film. 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