Ashley Zhao was a five-year-old girl who was discovered dead in her family's restaurant in Jackson Township, Stark County, Ohio, U.S., on January 10, 2017. Her death sparked an investigation led by the local police department in cooperation with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.[1]
| Killing of Ashley Zhao | |
|---|---|
| Location | Jackson Township, Ohio, U.S. |
| Date | January 9, 2017 |
Attack type | Child homicide by beating, filicide |
| Victim | Ashley Zhao, aged 5 |
| Perpetrators | Ming Ming Chen and Liang Zhao |
| Motive | Rage, resentment |
| Verdict | Pleaded guilty |
| Convictions | Chen: Involuntary manslaughter[a] Chen and Zhao: |
| Sentence | Chen: 22 years in prison, plus deportation following release Zhao: 12 years in prison |
Ming Ming Chen (born 1987/1988),[2] Ashley's mother, was charged with her death and convicted of involuntary manslaughter.[3] Ashley's father, Liang Zhao, was also tried and found guilty of obstructing justice and corpse abuse for assisting Chen in hiding the body.[4] Chen and Zhao were sentenced to 22[3] and 12[4] years in prison respectively.
Missing persons report and discovery of body
editOn January 9, 2017, Ashley Zhao (born December 30, 2011) disappeared from Ang's Asian Cuisine, a restaurant owned by her parents. She was reported missing on the same day[5] at around 9:00 PM. Her parents told the police that she may have “wandered out a back door”.[6] On the morning of January 10, authorities issued a Statewide Endangered Child Alert for her.[7] While searching the restaurant, police found her body “concealed” in the kitchen, close to the freezer.[8]
Investigation and legal proceedings
editChen and Zhao were arrested for their daughter's death on 11 January; at the Massillon Municipal Court,[6] their bonds were set at $5 million each because the judge believed that they posed a flight risk.[9] Although her parents had reported her missing, the police believed that Chen had repeatedly punched Ashley in the face until she died.[10]
Ming Ming Chen
editCharged with murder and felonious assault,[6] Ming Ming Chen taped a video with the police in which she confessed to beating Ashley to death.[11] She talked about how she was exhausted by working at the restaurant and that Ashley had become disobedient.[12] After informing her husband that Ashley was dead, she tasked him with hiding the body.[13] During a hearing on October 12, 2017, Chen pleaded not guilty to the murder charge by reason of insanity.[14][15]
On December 29, 2017, after she pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, she was sentenced to 22 years in prison. As she had come to the United States illegally when she was a teenager, she will be deported back to China after being released from prison.[16]
Liang Zhao
editAs part of a plea deal, Zhao, a U.S. citizen, agreed to testify against Ming Ming Chen in exchange for a sentence of 12 years in prison.[17]
According to Zhao, when he found Ashley, she was lying on the floor with head injuries (that Chen presumably inflicted)[18] and “green fluid” coming out of her mouth. He took her to the bathroom to clean the fluid off her face; by that point she had stopped breathing. He tried to perform CPR, but did not successfully revive her.[17] He also confessed to helping Chen hide Ashley's body in the restaurant following her death.[19]
On September 11, 2017, he pleaded guilty to two counts of child endangerment, corpse abuse, obstruction of justice, and evidence tampering.[17]
He was sentenced to 12 years in prison on January 10, 2018.[4]
Notes
edit- ^ Both Chen and Zhao were initially both charged with murder, but those charges were dropped in plea deals.
- ^ Two counts for Zhao.
References
edit- ^ "Missing 5-year-old found dead inside restaurant". WEWS. 2017-01-10. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
- ^ "Lawyer: Chinese mom's confession should be kept out of trial". The Seattle Times. 2017-10-17. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
- ^ a b "Ming Ming Chen sentenced to 22 years for death of 5-year-old daughter in Stark County". Cleveland 19. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
- ^ a b c "Dad who hid daughter's dead body in restaurant sentenced". New York Post. Associated Press. 2018-01-11. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
- ^ "Parents charged after dead girl found "concealed" in family's restaurant". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
- ^ a b c Truesdell, Jeff (January 11, 2017). "Missing Ohio Girl Found Dead in Chinese Restaurant; Parents Charged". people.com. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
- ^ "Statewide endangered child alert issued for missing Ohio girl". WKRC. 2017-01-10. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
- ^ Wagner, Meg. "Missing Ohio girl's body found in family's restaurant; parents charged in her beating death". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
- ^ "Police allege mother struck girl found dead, "concealed" in family restaurant". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
- ^ "Missing girl found dead in restaurant, parents charged". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN 1539-7459. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
- ^ Foster, Ally (2018-01-04). "Mum confesses to killing daughter". news.com.au. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
- ^ "Video: Mother Calmly Confesses to Killing Her Daughter, 5". Time. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
- ^ Harris, Chris (January 3, 2018). "'I Just Killed Her and She Died': Ohio Mother's Chilling Confession to 5-Year-Old Daughter's Murder". people.com. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
- ^ "Mom enters insanity plea in slaying of girl found hidden in family restaurant". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
- ^ Rossi, Madison (October 16, 2017). "Ohio Mom Pleads Not Guilty by Insanity in Daughter's Death". people.com. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
- ^ "Woman gets 22 years in Ohio prison for killing daughter". The Seattle Times. 2017-12-29. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
- ^ a b c Truesdell, Jeff (September 12, 2017). "Dad Pleads Guilty to Hiding Daughter's Body in Restaurant". people.com. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
- ^ "Mom beats kid, leaves her to die in family's Chinese restaurant". New York Post. 2017-01-11. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
- ^ Burke, Minyvonne. "Man admits to hiding 5-year-old daughter's body in family restaurant after his wife allegedly beat child to death". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2022-01-01.