Murdered teenager ‘achieved all A-grades at GCSE, but died before results’, reveals mother
THE grieving mum of murdered teenager Wenjing Lin yesterday revealed her happy daughter had died before finding out she had passed all her GCSEs with As.
Wengjing’s distraught mother and stepfather spoke of their devastation at the loss of the much-loved teenager shortly after seeing a man who had been described in court as a “trusted family friend” convicted of murder.
The 16-year-old was strangled to death by family friend Chun Xu at the Blue Sky Chinese takeaway in Ynyswen, Treherbert, on March 5 this year.
The killer went on to lure her stepfather, Yongquan Jiang Yang, to the basement of the restaurant before attempting to murder him with two knives by unleashing a “repeated and vicious attack”.
Xu, 32, of no fixed address, was found guilty of murder and attempted murder at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court yesterday morning, after the jury had deliberated for two and a half hours.
After the hearing, Wenjing’s mother, Meifang Xu, spoke of her grief at the loss of her daughter, and said how proud she was of her achievements.
Speaking outside the court with the support of her husband, Mr Yang, Ms Xu said: “My beautiful daughter is gone and I can never forgive you.
“I have lost my beloved daughter, my everything. Everything of me. She cared for my husband and I very much. She has been helping us to communicate with all the English-speakers. [Wenjing’s] school friends miss her so much, I know they are suffering from the pain and loss of their best friend. They will never recover from it. Before that horrible day she was a very, very happy girl. She loved spending time with her friends and she enjoyed school.
“We’ve been to the school to speak to them. My daughter has passed all her GCSEs with As but she will never know her results that she has worked so hard for. I’m so proud of her achievements in the school. She loved school so much and her teachers called her the model student. I’m still not able to comprehend why the perpetrator would do this to her. Our lives have been turned upside down. I was crying every day, watching videos every day and trying to feel close to her and listen to her voice.
“I cannot imagine what my life is like without her. She was my only child.
“The perpetrator has broken our family. I had to begin counselling to help me but it will never take away the pain the perpetrator has caused us.”
Ms Xu also described how her husband, Mr Yang, had suffered.
She said: “My husband was a very strong and fit young man. Before this vicious brutal attack he never felt scared
of anything, but now he even struggles to work and he also has nightmares of when Wenjing was lying on the floor by the counter.
“Due to the severe mental and physical injuries from the savage, brutal attack by the perpetrator, the treatment he must receive from the hospital will go on for a long time.”
Ms Xu also thanked the police, the Crown Prosecution Service, the school, the community and friends for their support.
She added: “We are so relieved justice has been done and the perpetrator should be punished for my husband and Wenjing. He should be punished for what he did. I hope there won’t be any innocent victims like Wenjing.”
During the trial, the jury heard that the defendant, Chun Xu, told police he wanted “revenge” against the 16-year-old’s mother after he fell into debt and owed the family £14,000.
Michael Jones QC, prosecuting, told the court Xu visited the family armed with a kitchen knife, and an hour before the attacks had Googled “can fingerprints be destroyed by fire”.
When he was later questioned by a psychologist about his fitness to be questioned by police, he said: “I didn’t mean to hurt the little girl. I wanted revenge on her mother.
“She upset me on many times and didn’t listen to what I say.”
Xu, also known as Little Gang, was regarded as a nephew to the mother, Ms Xu, as their parents had lived next door to each other in China, but they were not blood relations, Mr Jones said.
In December 2020, the family entrusted Xu with £20,000 that he said he would send back to China for them to pay a friend who had loaned them money to start their business in the UK.
But Xu only sent some of the money back and gambled away £14,000, which he had then begun paying back.
On March 4, 2021, he rang Ms Xu and asked if he could come to see them, but told her not to tell anyone about his visit. That night they ate food together and everyone retired to bed. The next morning, Mr Jones said, he “strangled to death 16-year-old Wenjing”.
An hour before the attack he is said to have Googled different variations of whether “finger prints on knife will still exist if burnt by fire”.
After killing Wenjing, Xu is said to have lured her stepfather, Mr Yang, into the basement and began attacking Mr Yang with two knives, stabbing him in the neck and body.
When Mr Yang asked Xu why he was attacking him, Xu replied: “Money, money, money.”
Ms Xu then came down the basement stairs and saw the two fighting. She tried to ring a friend, and Xu bit her.
Mr Yang fought Xu off and went upstairs to find his stepdaughter, Wenjing. He discovered her lying on her back by the takeaway counter.
Despite attempts to resuscitate the teenager, she was pronounced dead at the scene at 12.59pm.
Police found Xu in the kitchen, having cut his own throat. He was treated at the University Hospital of Wales, in Cardiff, before being arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
Xu had admitted attacking 38-year-old Mr Yang, but denied intending to kill him or cause him serious harm.
He had pleaded guilty to Wenjing’s manslaughter but not to murder.
He will be sentenced on Friday.