Lifeng Ye, the mother of slain University of Illinois scholar 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 Monday, June 24, 2019 outside the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Peoria, Ill. Consoling her is her son Zhengyang Zhang, far right, and family friend Dr. Kim Tee. (Matt Dayhoff/Journal Star via AP)
The Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) - Prosecutors who secured a guilty verdict this week against a former University of Illinois doctoral student for killing a visiting scholar from China have suggested it won't ever be possible to recover her remains.
They made that assertion in a filing unsealed Friday. It's a response to Brendt Christensen's lawyers, who said he offered after his 2017 arrest to plead guilty and divulge where Yingying Zhang's remains were for a life sentence.
Jurors convicted Christensen on Monday. The defense wants to mention Christensen's offer to jurors as they begin considering in July whether Christensen should be sentenced to death.
Prosecutors considered the offer, broaching it with Zhang's family. But they say the deal was contingent on "locating and recovering" all of Zhang's "identifiable bodily remains." They say the plea talks collapsed when it became clear that wouldn't be possible.
FILE - This file photo provided by the Macon County Sheriff's Office in Decatur, Ill., shows Brendt Christensen. Jurors on Monday, June 24, 2019 in Peoria, Ill., have convicted Christensen, a former University of Illinois doctoral student in the slaying of Yingying Zhang, a visiting scholar from China who was abducted at a bus stop as she headed to sign an off-campus apartment lease. The guilty verdict Monday was expected because Brendt Christensen's attorneys acknowledged from the start that he raped and stabbed Yingying Zhang in June 2017. (Macon County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)
The Associated Press
Members of the media crowd around the family of slain University of Illinois scholar Yingying Zhang to hear an address from attorney Wang Zhidong after a jury found Brendt Christensen guilty of her murder, Monday, June 24, 2019, in Peoria, Ill. (Matt Dayhoff/Journal Star via AP)
The Associated Press
Attorney Wang Zhidong, surrounded by family members of slain University of Illinois scholar Yingying Zhang, addresses the media after a jury found Brendt Christensen guilty of her murder Monday, June 24, 2019 outside the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Peoria, Illinois. (Matt Dayhoff/Journal Star via AP)
The Associated Press