Ying Ying Zhang, Her Name Means "A Twinkle Of Light," But Her Light Was Taken Away; who Was Yingying Zhang? Was her body ever found? The surveillance video was provided by University of Illinois police. Brendt had previous mental health issues as an ABC news report mentioned that in 2017, he had admitted to having homicidal intent after conducting researches on serial killers. Share; . Since then, they've likely been covered by at least 30 feet of landfill. Shes gone forever. Her phone was disabled moments later. The defense attorneys opening statement shocked everyone in the courtroom. She walks over and leans in the passenger side window. ILLUSTRATION:JORDAN LEE. The FBI approached Bullis, who was very confident about Brendts innocence. They have since divorced. My height makes me more visible. 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. She clutches the mic. I stare at the slide for a very long time. Christensen's defense attorneys admitted at trial that he killed Zhang, and focused on convincing the jury to spare him from the death penalty. Beyond the immediacy of war, when is a state justified to kill? The FBI placed Christensen under surveillance and monitored his conversations. 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. Yingyings body has never been found. As per Zhangs family lawyers statements, the contents of the dumpster were taken to Danville, where it was compacted twice. Yingying Zhang; Liangtao Li; Jiarui Guo; Yang Zhang; Xufeng Niu; Yang Wang ; Liang Hu et al. She said she was running behind, but would arrive about 2:10 p.m. At 1:35 p.m., she was observed on video boarding a public bus. It has been shown that a low BCAA diet can lead to dramatic changes in metabolism, including an increase in energy expenditure, enhancement of ketogenesis, upregulation of Fgf21, and a decrease in body weight in mice (Newgard et al, 2009; Lotta et al, 2016; Cummings et al, 2018; Karusheva et al, 2019; Zhou et al, 2019; Richardson et al, 2021 . Investigators believe Zhang is dead . Cameras show her getting into a black car and authorities identified Brendt Christensen as the suspect. Facebook reminds me that I have a memory from four years ago. He then took her to his apartment, where he raped, choked, and stabbed her in his bedroom; then dragged her into the bathroom, and beat her to death with a baseball bat before decapitating her. 3.2.Expression profiles of HMGB1, and TLR4 signaling molecules during APAP-induced liver injury. 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. 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.. However, Brendt never returned for a second counseling session like he was asked to. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get day-to-day video coverage of what's going on in China and beyond!Three years have passed since the kidnapping and mur. 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. 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. We are both mothers. Without a body, prosecutors based their case on DNA evidence found at Christensen's apartment, and the defendant's own boasting of having killed Zhang in a conversation with his girlfriend. The female entered his vehicle and attempted to show Christensen where she needed to go through her cell phone map app.. By 9:24 p.m., an associate professor reported that Zhang was missing. I argued that its safer for me because Im tall. Shell never be found.. 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 . Im puzzled over this question to the judge, why the distinction was necessary. However, the jury was divided over the decision for the death penalty, as a result of which Brendt was awarded life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2018. He later advised, however, he must have been either sleeping or he was playing video games at his residence all day. He admitted the car belonged to him, the affidavit said. Christensen, 30, was sentenced to life without parole. It took more than two years for Christensen to be convicted. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. The potential site was alleged to be a landfill in Vermilion County, along the Illinois-Indiana border. She was 26. "Due to the compaction process, Yingying's bodily remains may be very, very small in size," Beckett said. Yingying Zhang-Zhang; Sylvia Rohlfer; Jay Rajasekera . Most sexual assaults are never reported and fewer than three percent lead to a conviction. If you are interested to know more about this specific case and where Zhangs killer is now, we have got you covered. Revisiting Yingyings story at this moment is not only relevant, but also necessary. ? or IF he was free? One popular response claimed that the situation would have been better had Yingying been Black, Hispanic, or Muslim as these minority groups wield more political power in the U.S. than Asians, especially in a blue state like Illinois. Please let us bring Yingying home," Ronggao Zhang said. Brendt Christensen, the 29-year-old who was sentenced to life in . Thus, Zhangs family continues to mourn Zhangs death without even the smallest comfort of being able to lay her body to rest. The night ended with me being helped into an Uber, where I stayed for the next three hours. Like every other institution in this country, the evolution of the death penalty in the U.S. is intertwined with slavery and codified with racism. 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. Eager to clear her boyfriends name, Bullis agreed to wear a wire for the FBI and accompany her boyfriend on a memorial walk for Zhang. After the trial ended and public attention moved on, Yingyings disappearance has stayed with me like a needle floating in my veins. About. For a woman, the most dangerous place is often the home. Calls to her cell phone went unanswered. University of Minnesota. To do this, representative systems must be strategically selected to stimulate students' motivation. The memorial garden for Yingying Zhang outside Campbell Hall on the UIUC campus, near where she was last seen. She was last seen on surveillance video at her . I was too heavy! I joke with my friends. In a flurry of anguished messages, she told me to stop wearing high-heels so I could run faster in case of danger. 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. On June 9, 2017, the day Zhang went missing, she was supposed to meet a leasing agent to sign for a new apartment where she planned to stay. I had known this before, but seeing the words displayed on his page invoked an intense nausea that I doubled over. WGN-TV reported that he raped and beheaded Zhang, and implied he had 12 other victims, but this was never proven. When she did not turn up on time for the lease signing, the agent sent her a text which went unanswered. People from the FBI also testified that Zhangs DNA and her blood were found inside Brendts apartment, which unmistakeably linked him to the crime. A minute later she gets in the car and it drives off. However, was Zhangs body ever found? Friends offered up advice in the comments below. Powered by. She wanted to make a difference in the world.. Brendt Christensen was convicted of visiting Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang's 2017 murder. 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. Based on this, and other facts uncovered during the investigation of this matter, law enforcement agents believe that Ms. Zhang is no longer alive, the affidavit contends. Im surprised, though perhaps I should not be, by how little awareness there is. The jury was not told about his death wish. Around 2 pm, a CCTV camera spotted Zhang in a bus stand located directly opposite the universitys very own radio and television station. Copyright 2023 WLS-TV. To be a Chinese student or scholar in the U.S. is to chart a lonely existence. Yingying Zhang - update. Christensen was found guilty on June 24, 2019, of kidnapping resulting in death and two counts of lying to investigators. I am a research fellow at the Centre for Health Economics (CHE), University of York. 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. Yingying Zhang. But I also knew the real point of tension between us in relation to this case had nothing to do with criminal procedure. She exited the bus and tried to flag down another one, but it continued past her without stopping. Yingying Zhang, 26, a visiting scholar doing research at the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, went missing on June 9, 2017 in Champaign, and her body was never found . Her son should say where my daughter is., Lifeng Ye, the mother of Yingying Zhang, cries out in grief as her husband Ronggao Zhang, far left, addresses the media after a jury found Brendt Christensen guilty of her murder. 1007/S11426-021 . Show more detail . A jury convicted Christensen of all charges in her death after 90 minutes of deliberation in June. The same jurors took less than 90 minutes to convict Christensen last month in the killing of Yingying Zhang. Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Cultural difference makes for a convenient excuse to validate the self and exoticize the other. Got a tip? The song is Avril Lavignes Complicated. If I look back on the early aughts, when life revolved around school and heartbreak was about boys, Avrils voice will accompany those reels of memory. The affidavit provides a detailed accounting of the last moments Zhang is seen. She was diagnosed with Pyothorax (causes unknown). Several lamented that while foreigners in China are showered with privileges, Chinese people overseas endure second-class status. Brendt Christensen has been convicted of the murder of 26-year-old doctoral student Yingying Zhang, whose body has never been found. Chemistry and biochemistry instructors must help students to develop the ability to visualize and manipulate 3D biomolecular structures and critically analyze them and their relationship to their functions. The answer is no. 29 Nov - Zhang Yingying and Wang Xiaofei's mother Zhang Lan seem to be butting heads when it comes to the mainland businessman, after the actress seemingly decided to declare that they are dating.. As reported on CTWant, the 26-year-old actress, who has been romantically linked to Wang for months and was even accused of being the third party in his previous marriage with Barbie Hsu, recently . 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