China Executes Man, His Girlfriend Who Threw His Two Children from Apartment Window to Start New Life

A Chinese couple, Zhang Bo and his girlfriend Ye Chengchen, were executed by lethal injection this week, following a top court ruling, for murdering Zhang Bo’s two children from his previous marriage. The couple threw the children from the apartment window so they could start a new family together.

Zhang was convicted of throwing his two children out of a high-rise apartment window from the 15th floor of a residential tower in Chongqing in 2020. His girlfriend Ye was convicted as the court determined she forced Zhang to kill the young children.

Ye saw the children, a boy and a girl, one-year-old and two-year-old, respectively, as an “obstacle”. She also helped stage their deaths as an “accidental” fall.

The duo were handed capital punishment in 2021 but were executed this week following a lengthy appeals process. This led to a second trial for the couple. The Chongqing High People’s Court said the sentences handed down to Zhang and Ye were appropriate.

China’s Supreme People’s Court approved the ruling, noting that Zhang and Ye’s roles and overall influence were equivalent and termed both of them principal offenders. The court said the couple’s motive was “despicable” and accused them of using “brutal” means.

Zhang began his extramarital affair with Ye without informing her that he had children and was a married man. Ye told Zhang, after he divorced his then-wife Chen Meilin in February 2020, to kill the children which she said were “obstacles” in their plans for marriage and a “burden on their future life together”.

After throwing his daughter Zhang Ruixue and son Zhang Yangrui to their deaths in November 2020, Zhang was visibly remorseful and was captured on camera banging his head on the wall and sobbing uncontrollably. However, at that time, he claimed that the children fell when he was asleep and woke up to people shouting downstairs.

“The moment I heard my kids were actually thrown out of the 15th floor by their father and the mistress, I couldn’t find any words to describe my feelings. I couldn’t imagine what my kids had experienced from the 15th floor to the ground. Were they desperate? Were they afraid?” the child’s mother said, adding that Zhang had asked to take care of his daughter on the day he murdered them.