On December 30th, 2024, the first trial of the case where a 13-year-old middle school student was brutally murdered by three classmates in Handan City Intermediate People’s Court in Hebei Province delivered its verdict. The perpetrator, Zhang, was sentenced to life imprisonment for intentional homicide. Li received a 12-year prison sentence for intentional homicide, while Ma was exempt from criminal punishment. The verdict has sparked controversy online.
According to the court, Zhang proposed the murder, recruited others to participate, made preparations in advance, directly carried out the crime resulting in death, and was considered the most prominent principal offender in the joint crime. Li actively participated in the premeditation and execution of the murder, later shared the spoils with Zhang, and was also a principal offender in the joint crime with less culpability than Zhang. They were respectively sentenced to life imprisonment and 12 years in prison.
Ma learned on the way to the crime scene that Zhang and Li intended to kill Wang, and followed along. Although Ma left the scene upon witnessing the murder and helped destroy the victim’s phone card, involving in the joint crime of Zhang and Li in killing Wang, they were not punished for criminal involvement in the plot. Relevant public security agencies and education departments decided to only provide Ma with specialized corrective education.
On March 10th of this year, in Feixiang District, Handan City, a 13-year-old middle school student named Wang was brutally killed by three classmates. Wang, a 7th-grade student at Jiu Dian Middle School in Feixiang District near his home, lived with his grandparents as his parents were divorced, and his father worked outside the city.
On March 10th (Sunday) at 1 pm, Wang was invited out by several classmates and did not return home until 5 pm, prompting his family to search and report him missing.
On March 11th, Wang’s body was discovered in a vegetable greenhouse in Zhang Zhuang Village, Beigaizhen, with his burial site located just 100 meters from one of the suspect’s homes.
According to the acting lawyer, the victim suffered several contusions to the head from blunt force, ten knife wounds and blunt force injuries to the face, with one eye bulging out, indicating inhumane and brutal methods.
On March 17th, Wang’s father, accompanied by a team of lawyers, conducted a digging pit test, questioning how three minors could have dug a hole that proved difficult even for adults, suggesting the possibility of accomplices. However, the local police denied this speculation.
The verdict has stirred up heated discussions online, with many netizens questioning the involvement of Ma in the crime and the absence of punishment, calling the judgment difficult to accept and raising concerns about the severity of the case and criminal responsibility of minors. There were calls for continued attention to the case and appeals for potential revision of the legal age of criminal responsibility.
Prior reports:
“Premeditated Crime” – New Developments in Handan Middle School Student Murder and Burial Case
Handan Murdered Teen’s Family Conducts Digging Pit Test, Suspecting Accomplices to the Perpetrators