There has been new progress in the shooting and killing of Zheng Shaoxiong, a 24-year-old Chinese student in Chicago. On November 23, Nandu reporters learned from the aid lawyer of Zheng Shaoxiong's family that the suspect's second appearance in court had been carried out remotely online, and that the charge of first-degree murder, if established, would correspond to a sentence of 20 years to life imprisonment.
Nandu previously reported that on the afternoon of November 9, local time, a vicious gun robbery occurred in a neighborhood near the University of Chicago, and Zheng Shaoxiong, a 24-year-old Chinese student, unfortunately died. Zheng Shaoxiong is from Leshan, Sichuan Province, studied at Chengdu No. 7 Middle School and graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a bachelor's degree. In June this year, he just received a master's degree from the Department of Statistics of The University of Chicago.
Following The Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang expressed his condolences and condolences to the parents of the slain students, on November 18, local time, Zhao Jian, The Chinese Consul General in Chicago, had a telephone conversation with the president of Zhida University on the matter of Zheng Shaoxiong's innocent being shot and killed by the mob, expressing strong condemnation of the mob's indiscriminate killing of innocents. On November 22, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, in response to a reporter's question on the case, said that he was deeply shocked and saddened by the unfortunate murder of Chinese students. China urges the US side to take practical measures to thoroughly investigate the case, uphold justice and comfort the deceased.
On November 19, local time, the suspect in the case, Alton Spann, passed the second court in the U.S. Cook County Circuit Court. Nandu reporter learned from Huang Zhengdong, an assistance lawyer for the victim's family, that the appearance was conducted remotely online, and he and another aid lawyer participated through Zoom, and Zhang Junpeng, consul general of the Consulate General in Chicago, observed online. Public defender Jennifer Hodel attended and demanded that the case go into the formal trial process, while the prosecutor filed a motion to postpone his next appearance until December 1.
Suspect Alton Spann was indicted by the prosecution on six counts: three of which were first-degree murders including premeditated murder, intentional wounding to death, robbery to death, and one armed robbery and two counts of unlawful use of weapons. Previously, on November 13, the court decided not to release the defendant on bail.
Huang Zhengdong introduced that in the case of Zheng Shaoxiong's murder, the suspect was arrested and prosecuted in a very short period of time, and the three first-degree murder charges were the most serious charges in the criminal case. In Illinois, if convicted of first-degree murder, the defendant faces a sentence ranging from 20 years to life in prison. At present, the case of Zheng Shaoxiong's murder is still in its early stages, and the court has not yet tried or ruled on issues such as evidence, sentence, jury, and whether there is a guilty plea.
Written by: Nandu reporter Lin Zipei