Chinese teen sentenced to life in prison for killing

Beijing [China], December 31: A Chinese court on Monday sentenced a 13-year-old to life imprisonment after founding him guilty of intentionally killing a 12-year-old peer.
A 13-year-old accomplice was sentenced to 12 years in prison, Chinese state television reported, citing the court in the northern Chinese city of Handan. A third defendant, another 13-year-old boy, was acquitted but given an order to undergo special education.
Police officers discovered the victim's body buried in an abandoned greenhouse near Handan in March 2024 after the third defendant led them there. According to the court, the two convicts had a dispute with the victim and conspired to kill the student and divide his money among themselves.
They are said to have lured the boy into the greenhouse, where one of the boys killed him using a shovel while the second boy assisted him. The third boy was present at the beginning, but then left the greenhouse.
The case had triggered nationwide outrage. The court deemed the circumstances of the crime to be particularly cruel. Due to a special paragraph in the Chinese penal code, two of the boys could be prosecuted even though they were both under the age of 14 at the time of the offence.
Source: Qatar Tribune