Christensen lawyer in tears as jury weighs death penalty
PEORIA — Jurors began deliberating but didn’t reach a decision Wednesday on whether a former University of Illinois doctoral student should be put to death for the brutal slaying of a scholar from China he abducted at a bus stop.
Brent Christensen’s attorney, Elisabeth Pollock, teared up earlier in the day during closing arguments in the penalty phase in U.S. District Court in Peoria, at one point walking behind her 30-yearold client and putting her hands on his shoulders.
“He is a whole person,” she said, looking across the room at jurors. “He is not just the worst thing he ever did.”
Pollock sought to humanize Christensen, telling jurors how he once bought a stuffed toy his sister wanted using his allowance money.
“He is leaving prison in a casket. The only question is when,” she said.
Prosecutors reminded jurors of a secret FBI recording in which Christensen laughed as he described luring 26-year-old Yingying Zhang into his car as she was running late to sign an apartment lease in 2017. He raped, choked and stabbed her as she fought back, then beat her to death with a bat and cut off her head. Her body was never found.
“Evil does exist,” prosecutor Eugene Miller told jurors. “What the defendant did was evil.”
All 12 jurors must agree to impose the death penalty. If even one opposes execution, the 30-year-old would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Jurors began deliberating Wednesday afternoon. After three hours, Judge James Shadid excused jurors for the day. They’ll return Thursday morning.