Naman Shrestha
In the episode titled ‘The Ivy League Murder’ of CBS’ ’48 Hours,’ the focus is on the 2021 murder of a 26-year-old Yale graduate student named Kevin Jiang. Newly engaged to Zion Perry, he had a lot of things to look forward to. Unfortunately, all his dreams were shattered when he was shot to death in New Haven, Connecticut, by Qinxuan Pan, an MIT graduate. Consisting of exclusive interviews with the victim’s loved ones and the officials linked to the case, the episode provides us with a detailed account of the killer’s plan and motive.
Qinxuan Pan Evaded Police For Three Months
Although Qinxuan Pan was born on April 16, 1991, in Shanghai, China, he was brought up in Malden, Massachusetts. He turned out to be a bright student with a sharp mind, so much so that he even represented the nation and won a silver medal in the International Mathematical Olympiad in Bremen, Germany. He went on to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2014, after which he worked as a researcher at the time he was linked to the brutal murder of a Yale graduate and former Army National Guardsman named Kevin Jiang. On February 6, 2021, the 26-year-old man was found with fatal gunshot wounds right outside of his car on Lawrence Street in New Haven. Within an hour of the murder, Qinxuan was caught driving a stolen vehicle with a commercial Connecticut license plate on railroad tracks.
It turned out that under the guise of test driving vehicles, he stole a GMC Terrain in Mansfield, Massachusetts, and drove all the way down to Connecticut on the day of the shooting death of Kevin. Since the police had a different description of the suspect in question, they let him go but took possession of the stolen vehicle. Not long after, the investigators determined Qinxuan as a potential suspect in the case of Kevin’s murder, and on February 26, 2021, an arrest warrant was officially issued in his name. As the detectives dug deeper into the MIT graduate, they learned that he was connected to the victim’s fiancée, Zion Perry, via Facebook. The two had reportedly met several years earlier while they were students at MIT.
As per Zion, they were only acquaintances and had nothing romantic between them. Reports also suggest that the suspect had fired multiple .45 caliber bullets into four residences in New Haven leading up to the day of the murder. As per the detectives, he did it intentionally to make Kevin’s death appear like a random killing, just like the others. For about three months, Qinxuan managed to remain a fugitive at large. After months of chasing leads, the investigators finally apprehended him in Montgomery, Alabama, in May 2021. Not only was he living under an alias, Henry Choi, but he also had $19,000 cash and multiple mobile phones in his possession. He was charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, interstate theft of a vehicle, and murder of Kevin Jiang.
Qinxuan Pan is Currently Incarcerated at a Connecticut Prison Facility
In December 2022, Qinxuan Pan stood in court for probable cause hearings, during which numerous witnesses testified to seeing him in and around the crime scene at the time of the murder. Moreover, the judge was presented with evidence that the investigators had found inside the stolen vehicle. On December 9, he maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. However, on February 27, 2024, he ended up taking a plea deal and admitted to killing Kevin Jiang in exchange for a reduced sentence. During his sentencing on April 23, many of the victim’s loved ones, including his parents and fiancée, were in attendance.
Kevin’s father took the stand and stated, “He was a true victim here. My son was a remarkable young man who cherished life and held deep believe in God. He had a bright future ahead – one that promised to spread God’s love far and wide.” On the other hand, his mother told everyone about her concern for her safety in case Qinxuan was to receive a short sentence. Even the convict took the stand and addressed the court. He said, “I feel sorry for what my actions caused and for everyone affected. I feel very bad for what happened. I fully accept my penalties.” In the end, the former MIT student Qinxuan was sentenced to 35 years in prison. As of now, he is serving his sentence at Cheshire Correctional Institution in Cheshire, Connecticut, with his release date scheduled for May 2056.
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