On November 2, 2020, two young children fell on the 15th floor of a tall building in Chongqing's Nan'an District, killing their 2-year-old sister on the spot and their 1-year-old brother dying after ineffective rescue. After the police investigation, it was found that the children's father, Zhang Bo, and his girlfriend Ye Chengchen were suspected of committing major crimes, and the prosecution subsequently filed an indictment for "intentional homicide".
In July 2021, the case was first heard, and the child's mother, Chen Meilin, said in court that she would give up civil compensation and only seek severe punishment for the murderer. On December 28, 2021, the Fifth Intermediate People's Court of Chongqing Municipality publicly pronounced a verdict in the first instance on the case of intentional homicide and criminal incidental civil litigation by defendants Zhang Bo and Ye Chengchen in accordance with law, and sentenced Zhang Bo and Ye Chengchen to death for intentional homicide and deprived of political rights for life.
On December 28, 2021, after Chen Meilin received the verdict of the first instance trial, she immediately left for Tiantai Temple, "telling the children about this result." Beijing News reporter Yang Xue photographed
On the day of the first trial, a new piece of evidence released by the verdict broke Chen Meilin' head: there were fingerprints of her daughter Xuexue under the window frame — meaning that the moment she was pushed down, her daughter tried to grab the window frame.
According to the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, the defendants in this case, Zhang Bo and Ye Chengchen, can appeal within 10 days of the first-instance judgment. According to the surging news report, Zhang Bo and Ye Chengchen have submitted materials and appealed within the statutory appeal period. This also means that the "Chongqing Child Killing Case" has entered the second-instance trial procedure.
For such progress, Chen Meilin is not surprised. She said that on the day of the first-instance judgment, she was mentally prepared for the two to appeal.
"According to relevant laws and regulations, criminal cases in which the death penalty may be sentenced to death are tried for up to four months in the second instance, and if they are extended, the Supreme People's Court will approve it." Zhang Dezhi, a lawyer at Beijing Municipal Code Ship Law Firm, analyzed that the second-instance court mainly looks at whether the facts of the first-instance judgment are clear, whether the conviction is correct, and whether the sentence is appropriate, "If there is a problem, the judgment may be changed, and if it is felt correct, it will make an effective judgment of the final trial." If the original judgment is upheld in the second instance, the case will be reported to the Supreme People's Court for death penalty review. ”
Knowing that there was a daughter's fingerprint under the window frame, "my whole body collapsed"
Beijing News: Zhang Bo and Ye Chengchen chose to appeal, were you surprised?
Meilin Chen: Not surprising. After the first trial, our family was very sure that the two of them would definitely choose to appeal.
At that time, when the judge asked the two whether they would appeal in court, Zhang Bo said that he should "consider it", Ye Chengchen did not speak, and the judge asked several times without opening his mouth (speaking). After the hearing, I kept asking the court if the two were appealing, but did not get a definite reply. In short, now is to wait, wait for the second instance trial and so on. For me, as long as it's not the day they carry out the execution, it's not over.
Beijing News: Like you said before, only when they die, is it possible for your life to continue to move forward?
Chen Meilin: Yes.
Beijing News: The first-instance judgment released a lot of details, and some details corrected some of the previous rumors. For example, the initial "there is no fingerprint of the children on the window", which has become a strong evidence of suspicion of Zhang Bo's crime, but at the first instance judgment, it was confirmed that there were fingerprints of children on the window.
Chen Meilin: Yes. Below the window frame, there are fingerprints of snow and snow. Do you know what that means? It was probably when the snow fell and instinctively grabbed the window. In addition to her fingerprints, there are also Zhang Bo's shoe prints on the bay window.
On July 17, 2021, neighbors signaled to the Beijing News reporter the window where the children fell. Beijing News reporter Yang Xue photographed
Knowing this detail, my whole being collapsed. I kept thinking about how scared my daughter was at that moment. Before, there were friends who said that the child was small, did not know how to be afraid, and may not have suffered much, but this fingerprint meant that she knew everything. She was underneath when she fell, her brother was on top of her, and she couldn't grasp the window frame at all.
The motive is still a mystery, "Zhang Bo's indifferent look makes me angry"
Beijing News: After the first-instance judgment, what do you and your parents think about the motive for the killing? Some people think that Ye Chengchen is "revenge" on you, have you ever intersected with her?
Chen Meilin: Until now, we can't figure out why Ye Chengchen had to die these two dolls. In fact, the two dolls didn't get in her way at all, and I didn't have any head-on conflict with her.
Ye Chengchen once used Zhang Bo's tone to shout @ me in Zhang Bo's circle of friends, the content is probably "CML (Chen Meilin) Our marriage has ended, and I love her now (Ye Chengchen)". But I never took the initiative to find Ye Chengchen, and the other party did not look for me in other ways. The biggest reason I don't bother her is that my son is still with Zhang Bo.
Because of the circle of friends, I feel that Ye Chengchen's female doll is very extreme, I do not stimulate her, afraid that my son will be hurt. In fact, the details released at the later first-instance judgment did prove that she was extreme, such as she wanted to beat Zhang Bo, self-harm, and force Zhang Bo to self-harm. The first-instance judgment said that Zhang Bo had many injuries on his body that she had struck.
Ye Chengchen and Zhang Bo. Courtesy of respondents
Beijing News: When the first instance trial began, what was the state of Zhang Bo and Ye Chengchen?
Chen Meilin: Zhang Bo looked at me before he walked into the courtroom, and I estimated that there were three or four seconds. The look in his eyes... How to say it, I think there is resentment, there is regret, and there is indifference.
Compared with his first appearance in court, this look made me even more angry—because at that time I could still feel that he might still have a little regret as a person, as the biological father of the doll. But this time, he gave me the feeling of "whatever," and even the basic sense of shame was gone.
He stood on the judgment bench, his hands clasped together, his thumbs turning around, and the whole person looked indifferent. But my lawyer said that when asked if he had appealed after the verdict was pronounced, he said in a very low voice, "I'll think about it." "Maybe when people finally know they're going to die, they instinctively want to struggle."
Ye Chengchen covered only a pair of eyes, I couldn't see her micro-expression, she hadn't spoken from beginning to end. When the verdict was pronounced, I felt that she was frightened, probably completely unaware that she would be sentenced to death, and the judge asked her three or four times whether she would appeal, and she did not respond. As I walked out of the courtroom after the verdict was pronounced, I saw that she had a little soft legs and a little shaky feet.
"I fantasized about having two more dolls and two children coming back to me"
Beijing News: Did the first-instance judgment make you feel a little more relaxed? Have Mom and Dad been okay lately?
Chen Meilin: My mother began to cry from the time she entered the court security check, and cried until she came out of the court. When the verdict came down, I spent all my energy listening to the details of the verdict, but my friend said that my dad was crying all of a sudden. Before the children had an accident, I had never seen my dad cry in my life, and this was the third time. He cried three times because of the doll.
I was nervous from the moment I entered the courthouse, holding my hands together, and I felt relieved after the verdict was pronounced. For me, the matter wasn't over until both men were executed, but I did feel relieved at the time.
After these days, the atmosphere in the house was also noticeably more relaxed than before, and my parents, I could feel that they were a little more relaxed, not as tense as before. But we are still more evasive from talking about this matter.
On November 2, 2021, Chen Meilin went to the temple on the anniversary of the children's death, wiping the urn over and over again. Beijing News reporter Yang Xue photographed
Beijing News: Do you have any plans for your future life?
Chen Meilin: I am sleeping very poorly now, basically in a state where I want to sleep and it is difficult to fall asleep. I also thought about finding a place to be alone, do nothing, and take a break. But before this matter is over, I am afraid it will be difficult to do.
As for the future, I have not thought about the future, every day I live now, only today. From the time it happened to the present, my mom and dad, basically never talked openly, especially about our inner feelings. Because we all hurt, but we can't understand each other's pain.
It's impossible to empathize, it's the case for each of us — Xuexue is almost my mother's second daughter, and her pain won't be less than mine, but if we talk face to face, me and my mother, we certainly can't bear it.
However, I have fantasized about having two more dolls, and twins are the best. I felt that Snow Snow and Rarity would come back to me.
Beijing News reporter Yang Xue
Edited by Li Binbin Proofreader Yang Xuli