A Chinese man and his girlfriend were executed for throwing his two children from the 15th floor of a high-rise apartment in Chongqing as they wanted to start a new family together.
Zhang Bo, and his girlfriend, Ye Chengchen were sentenced to death by China's top court in 2021, but they were executed this week after a lengthy appeal process.
According to Global Times, Zhang Bo threw his two-year-old daughter and one-year-old son to their deaths from the 15th floor on November 2, 2020, after Ye convinced him to do so to start a new family.
Police said that the man and his girlfriend conspired to murder the two infant children and local prosecutors filed charges against the duo for intentional homicide.
Chongqing public prosecutor's office in the indictment stated that Zhang and Ye met through social media and later on, started dating. The man was a divorcee and he was repeatedly told by his girlfriend that she viewed the children as an "obstacle" in their relationship.
The couple had several discussions about killing the two children. Later, they came to the conclusion that they would plot an accidental kill, which would lead to the infant children's death.
The first trial in this case took place in July 2021, during which the children's mother, Chen Meilin, sought compensation in court and demanded strict punishment for her ex-husband and his girlfriend.
A court in Chongqing sentenced Zhang and Ye to death on December 28, 2021, for the crime of intentional homicide. Zhang and Ye then filed appeals.
In 2023, the second trial took place in this case where Zhang withdrew his previous confession of committing the crime in a court, claiming that his children's deaths were due to an accident.
Recently, the Supreme People’s Court, China's highest court, upheld the death penalty for Zhang and Ye and ruled that they had intentionally and illegally deprived the lives of others.
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