2 guilty of killing toddlers, sentenced to death

Chongqing No 5 Intermediate People's Court convicted Zhang Bo and Ye Chengchen on Tuesday for intentional homicide to two toddlers in Chongqing and sentenced them to death.

The court found that Zhang, the victims' father, and Ye, his girlfriend, had conspired to kill both children by staging an "accidental" fall in November 2020.

The court said Zhang took his son and daughter to his apartment from their mother's home and murdered them.

Ye had also actively participated in the killing, the court found. Ye had repeatedly told Zhang that she and her parents could not accept the fact that Zhang had children and had pressured him to kill them when he hesitated. Her role in the crime was equivalent to Zhang's the court ruled.

It held that the defendants had broken the bottom line of the law and betrayed human conscience and morality. Their motive was despicable and brutal in the extreme, it said, resulting in an extremely bad social influence that required severe punishment.

The case has drawn intense public attention in China. The defendants, relatives of the victims, dozens of representatives from the media and members of the public were in the courtroom to hear the verdict.