News has surfaced belatedly that Chinese actor Zhang Yiyang, who was sentenced to death for murdering his underage girlfriend, has had his execution carried out.
This marks the first known case of a celebrity being executed under China’s capital punishment system.
According to local media reports on the 22nd of July, a public notice recently released by the Intermediate People’s Court of Xianyang City in Shaanxi Province stated that Zhang Yiyang was sentenced to death on December 18, 2023, and the sentence was executed immediately afterward.
On February 26, 2022, Zhang Yiyang fatally stabbed his girlfriend multiple times with a concealed weapon after she told him she wanted to break up.
The victim died from excessive bleeding and suffocation.
After the murder, Zhang attempted to destroy evidence and tried to take his own life in a hotel but was arrested by police.
At the time, Zhang was 30 years old, while the victim was revealed to be just 16, shocking the public in China.
The Xianyang Intermediate People’s Court stated, “The motive was malicious, the method extremely brutal, and he showed no sign of remorse,” and thus sentenced him to death. The sentence was reportedly carried out on the same day as the first trial verdict.
Zhang Yiyang debuted in 2012 through the variety show “Happy Seven.”
He appeared in several films and dramas in supporting roles and even received a newcomer award in 2019.
