Motorist kills accident victim to avoid complications

[Xiahou Yuan]

Motorist kills accident victim to avoid complications

Xinhua

Yao Jiaxin​

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An undergraduate stabbed to death a young mother that he knocked down in an accident in Xi'an, China. Yao Jiaxin, a 21-year-old student of Xi'an Conservatory of Music, knocked down cyclist Zhang Miao with his car around 11 pm on Oct 20.

When he saw Zhang staring at him and his number plate, Yao took out a knife and stabbed her eight times. He then injured a man and another woman in a hurry to flee the scene, police said at a press conference on Monday.

Yao was arrested on Oct 22, on suspicion of murder. He admitted to killing the victim simply because he feared the woman would be "hard to deal with".

Wang Hui has to take care of the son alone after the tragic death of Zhang Miao (right)​

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Canteen assistant Zhang Miao, 26, the mother of a two-year-old boy, was going home after work when the accident occurred. She suffered a fractured leg, police said. Zhang Miao's husband Wang Hui said he would do all he could to ensure justice for his wife. He feared Yao would be let off lightly. "I heard his parents are rich…"

Yao's parents could not be reached for an interview. A neighbour said they had not been seen since the incident. The neighbour said Yao's parents were both college educated. His father served in the army and worked at a state company in Xi'an before starting his own business. "Yao plays the piano well and teaches children in his spare time, his parents spent more than 100,000 yuan to buy him a car this year."

Yao Jiaxin’s car​

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The issue has sparked online outrage against Yao with Chinese netizens almost unanimously demanding the death penalty for him. Many people speculated that Yao's parents might use their connections to bribe the authorities into letting him off with a lighter offence.

"It could be just the same old story of the rich and powerful doing whatever they want and never feeling guilty about it," said a netizen from Hebei, where another outrage occurred the same month. On that occasion, a drunk 22-year-old driver shouted: "Sue me if you dare, my father is Li Gang," after hitting two students - killing one and injuring the other - on the campus of Hebei University in mid October.

Li Gang was the deputy chief of the public security bureau in Baoding city's Beishi district, where the university is located. The driver, Li Qiming, has been charged with fleeing the scene of an accident, but the case has yet to go to court.