Chinese entertainer Zhang Yiyang Photo: Weibo

 

Chinese entertainer Zhang Yiyang, accused of murdering his 16-year-old girlfriend in 2022, was executed on December 18 in 2024, according to a detailed investigation report recently released by the Intermediate People's Court of Xianyang in North Shaanxi Province. According to media report, this marks the first execution of an entertainer in China's entertainment industry.

According to the court's report, Zhang began dating the victim in September 2021. However, a dispute arose when his girlfriend proposed breaking up. Zhang had repeatedly threatened her with suicide and on February 26, 2022, Zhang attacked her with a folding knife in a wooded area in Xingping, Shaanxi, rupturing the girl's left carotid artery, jugular vein, trachea and esophagus, which ultimately led to her death due to massive bleeding.

After the muder, Zhang took away the girl's mobile phone and returned home by taxi, changing his cloth, discarding the weapon and related items in a reservoir to destroy evidence.

On the next day, Zhang attempted to commit suicide at a hotel but failed. He was discovered by hotel staffers, who reported to the police and sent him to the hospital. As a result, the case came to light, and the police subsequently arrested him.

After a court trial, Zhang was sentenced to death for "intentional homicide" and was deprived of political rights for life. After the first trial verdict, Zhang appealed, but the second court upheld the original judgment.

The police said that Zhang exhibited paranoid emotional and psychological conditions, with the motive for the crime stemming from long-standing resentment and an inability to accept the breakup, ultimately leading to the tragedy. The court believed that Zhang's actions were cruel and had produced a severe negative impact on society. He was sentenced to death, and the execution was carried out by shooting on December 18,2024.

Born in May 1990, Zhang had been in the industry for many years but remained relatively unknown, but due to his conviction for murder, he has become the first celebrity in the Chinese entertainment industry to be sentenced to death, media reports said.

Global Times