U.S. Jury to hear closing arguments of sentencing phase in slaying Chinese student

After a U.S. Judge concludes all the evidence from the sentencing phase in the Chinese scholar slaying trial Tuesday, closing arguments from both prosecutors and the defense started in Peoria Wednesday morning.

Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying, who disappeared on June 9, 2017, in Champaign, Illinois. [Photo: IC/the University of Illinois Police Department]

The closing arguments of the sentencing phase for Brendt Christensen who was found guilty of killing Zhang Yingying in 2017 took place around 9 a.m.(1400 GMT) at a federal court of Peoria, in the U.S. state of Illinois.

After that, jurors in the capital trial of Christensen will begin deliberating over his appropriate sentence: life in prison or death. It may take several hours or even one to two weeks for the jury to make the final decision.

Father Ronggao Zhang (2-R), brother Zhengyang Zhang (L), mother Lifeng Ye (C), of Yingying Zhang cross the street as they arrive with their lawyer Wang Zhidong (R) at the US Courthouse as sentencing of Brendt Christensen begins in the 2017 disappearance and killing of Yingying Zhang, a visiting scholar from China whose body has not been found, on July 8, 2019 in Peoria, Illinois. [File Photo: VCG/AFP/Kamil Krzaczynski]

The jury last month unanimously ruled that Christensen was guilty of all three counts of charge against him, namely, kidnapping resulting in the death of Zhang Yingying in 2017; and two counts of making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The 26-year-old Chinese scholar went missing on June 9, 2017, after getting into a black Saturn Astra about five blocks away from where she got off a bus on her way to an apartment complex to sign a lease.

Christensen was arrested on June 30, 2017, after being caught on tape pointing out people he described as "ideal victims" during a vigil in Zhang's honor.