The children who fell from the 15th floor. Photo: Web

The father and his lover from Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, who allegedly killed his two babies by throwing them off the 15th floor on November 2, 2020, and sparked fury among the Chinese public, have been sentenced to death for intentional homicide, the local intermediate people's court announced on Tuesday. 

"The court concluded that the defendants Zhang Bo and Ye Chengduan conspired to claim the lives of Zhang's two children by plotting an accidental fall, which resulted in their deaths. Their behaviors have both constituted intentional homicide," read the announcement. 

In the joint crime, Zhang, the father, actively participated in the conspiracy and committed the murder of his two-year-old daughter and one-year-old son. 

Ye, the father's girlfriend, pursued the death of the victims, by repeatedly urging Zhang to commit the murder on the grounds that she and her family could not accept the fact that Zhang had children. 

"The deeds of the two defendants have broken the bottom line of the law and morality, the motive of the crime was particularly despicable, and the means of crime was extremely cruel. The case has posed extremely bad impact to the society and should be severely punished in accordance with the law," the court said. 

On November 2, 2020, the video showing a pair of young siblings falling from the 15th floor to their death in a residential area of Nan'an district, Chongqing, startled netizens. 

The children's father rushed downstairs and cried in pain when he saw the children's remains. 

As the public felt sorry for the accidental demise of the children, however, police investigation suggested that it wasn't an accident, but the babies were thrown from the 15th floor, and the suspect was this "heartbroken" father.

Police investigation identified that Zhang and the child's mother, surnamed Chen, married in 2017 and subsequently gave birth to a daughter and a son in 2018 and 2019. 

Zhang filed for divorce in April 2019 and started a relationship with Ye, who later repeatedly told him that if he cannot get rid of the kids, she cannot be with him.

To pursue marriage with Ye, Zhang eventually committed the murder. "At that time Zhang was on a video phone call with Ye, when she slit her wrist, and then Zhang got scared. The phone was dropped, he picked up the two children, and threw them down from the balcony," said the children's mother.

Global Times