Sentence affirmed for killer of Chinese student

A judge in Arizona accepted a plea agreement on Tuesday for the woman who killed a Chinese student in 2016.

Judge Warren Granville of Maricopa County Superior Court in Arizona affirmed a 25-year prison sentence for Holly Davis, who killed Jiang Yue after a road -age incident in Tempe, Arizona, despite emotional pleas from the victim's family to charge Davis with first-degree murder.

"The victim's family is disappointed with the judge's decision not to vacate the plea agreement," said Daniel Deng of Deng Law Center, a lawyer helping the family with their case.

Jiang's relatives had traveled from China to the US to ask for the death sentence or a life sentence for Davis.

Deng said several factors influenced Granville's decision. First, he didn't want the family to go through the heartbreak that comes with hearing about Jiang's death again, if the case were to go to court.

Second, if Davis were charged with first-degree murder, she could appeal, resulting in multiple hearings, so striking the deal was in the family's best interests.

Deng said Jiang's family could still appeal the decision. He was scheduled to convene with them on Wednesday to see if they planned to go through with the appeal.

Davis' sentencing hearing will be held on Friday.

Davis shot Jiang, then a 19-year-old sophomore at Arizona State University, after their cars collided at a red light on Jan 16, 2016. After the crash, Davis went to the driver's side of Jiang's car and shot her multiple times in the chest.

She was arrested and charged with 14 criminal counts including first-degree murder. She initially pleaded not guilty but in February changed her plea to guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for a 25-year sentence and a $250,000 restitution fee, in addition to dismissal of all other charges, according to Xinhua.

theresaliu@chinadailyusa.com