Father and girlfriend convicted for murder of 2 young children

A man and his girlfriend were sentenced to death today for colluding to throw the man's two young children from a 15th-floor apartment to their deaths in southwest China's Chongqing.

Zhang Bo, the father, and Ye Chengchen were convicted of murdering the 2-year-old girl and 1-year-old boy Zhang had with his ex-wife in what they claimed to be an accidental fall on November 2, 2020, Chongqing's No. 5 Intermediate People's Court ruled today.

The gruesome killing carried out by the children's own father has shocked the nation and drawn overwhelming outrage.

Zhang and Ye had planned together to kill the toddlers, as Ye had said she wouldn't accept Zhang's children from his relationship with his ex-wife.

Zhang invited the children to his apartment that day. When he hesitated, Ye repeatedly urged him to carry out the killing, which Zhang did eventually. The court said their roles in the horrendous murder were equally significant.

Their motive was so despicable and malicious that they should be punished severely, the court said.