Chinese actor Zhang Yiyang was sentenced to death for killing his 16-year-old girlfriend in an emotional dispute and was executed in December 2024, becoming the first entertainer in mainland China's entertainment industry to receive the death penalty, according to an investigative report from the court of Xianyang, Shaanxi.
Police investigations revealed that Zhang had long coerced the victim into maintaining the relationship with suicide threats, exhibiting strong controlling tendencies and psychological obsession.
Years of accumulated motives drove him to brutally kill his girlfriend upon being unable to accept the breakup.
Zhang first appeared on Shaanxi TV's entertainment program in 2012. By 2015, under the stage name "Gui Zai", he released his debut original album Crying Man and was subsequently invited to participate in numerous program shoots.
In 2018, Zhang made his film debut in The Soul of the Dragon, and that September, he ventured into TV series by starring in a web drama.
In 2021, at the age of 30, Zhang began a relationship with a 16-year-old girl from his village. However, he subjected her to long-term emotional manipulation and suicide threats to control her.
In February 2022, when the victim attempted to break up with him, Zhang refused to accept it.
According to mainland media reports, on February 26, Zhang lured his girlfriend to a forest in Xingping under the pretense of celebrating her birthday and killed her.
After the news of Zhang Yiyang's death was exposed, some netizens combed through his Weibo account and discovered that on the day of the incident, he had posted, "No matter what happens in the future, I will love her unconditionally.”
(Anson Luk)
