One year after Chinese singer and actor Zhang Yiyang's death, an anecdote that the first execution of a celebrity was carried out is being reexamined.
Zhang Yiyang debuted as an actor in 2012 and, after appearing on a local variety program, released an album in 2015 and also worked as a singer. In 2018, he starred in the film '之魂 (soul of the dragon)', and in 2021 he starred in '追人 (Chumongin)' and also took on the roles of director and screenwriter.
However, he shocked the public when he was arrested in 2022 on suspicion of murdering his girlfriend, a person surnamed A. On Feb. 26, 2022, using a birthday party as a pretext, Zhang Yiyang lured the person surnamed A to the southwest forest of the Xingguang breeding ground on Xingli Road in Xingping City, where they had an argument. He became enraged when the person surnamed A told him she wanted to break up, and ultimately brutally murdered A with a folding knife.
The person surnamed A died instantly at the scene, and Zhang Yiyang is reported to have mutilated and abandoned the body and attempted to destroy evidence. The day after the crime, Zhang Yiyang attempted suicide at a hotel but was discovered by hotel staff; he was taken to a hospital for treatment and then arrested by public security.
According to the investigation, after Zhang Yiyang began dating the person surnamed A in 2019, he continuously threatened and controlled her. It was especially shocking to learn that at the time of death the person surnamed A was a minor — just 16 years old — 15 years younger than Zhang Yiyang, who was 31.
Ultimately, Zhang Yiyang was sentenced to death on charges of murder and abandonment of the body. The court said the motive was vicious, the method was extremely brutal and there were no signs of remorse. Zhang Yiyang appealed, but on Dec. 18 last year the verdict was upheld by the appellate court and the Supreme People's Court, and on the day of the ruling the execution by firing squad was carried out, resulting in his death at age 34.
In particular, Zhang Yiyang became a major topic domestically as the first active celebrity to have an execution carried out. Earlier this year his posthumous work '解音 (Haewoomseonggwan)' was released and once again became the subject of controversy.
[photo] Zhang Yiyang SNS
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