NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The man charged in the 2021 murder of a Yale University forestry student pleaded guilty to murder charges on Thursday.
Qinxuan Pan, 32, of New Haven, pleaded guilty to a charge of Murder. He faces a sentence of 35 years in prison. The sentencing is scheduled for April 25.
Pan was charged with the February 6, 2021 murder of Kevin Jiang. New Haven Police Department officers were called to the intersection of Lawrence and Nicoll streets following several 911 calls reporting that a person had been shot. When they arrived, officers found Jiang suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and he was later pronounced dead. Authorities searched multiple states for several months before Pan was found and arrested in Alabama and extradited back to Connecticut.
Jiang served in the U.S. Army National Guard, mentored youth, and even distributed food to and cooked for a homeless shelter. He was enrolled at the Yale School of Environment and was part of the class of 2022. Jiang had proposed to his girlfriend Zion Perry just a week before his death. His 27th birthday would have been this month.
This is the fifth murder of a Yale student since 1974, the last having occurred in 2009 when Annie Le, a 24-year-old Yale School of Medicine doctoral student was killed. Raymond Clark III later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 44 years in prison.
Le and Clark, both 24 at the time, worked in the Yale Animal Research Center. She performed medical experiments and he was an animal technician. Her body was discovered behind a wall in that building.
RELATED: Man suspected in Yale student's death, who was believed to be in Atlanta, caught in Alabama
Doug Stewart is a Senior Digital Content Producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
Have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at newstips@fox61.com
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS
Download the FOX61 News APP
iTunes: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.
Steam Live on FIRE TV: Search ‘FOX61’ and click ‘Get’ to download.