Alexandra Wimley / Chicago TribuneThe apartment building where Brendt Christensen, who has been charged with kidnapping visiting scholar Yingying Zhang, lives near the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Terrence Antonio James / Chicago TribuneLifeng Ye, second from right, wails in grief as her husband, Ronggao Zhang, left, the father of slain University of Illinois scholar Yingying Zhang, reads a statement to the media outside the federal courthouse in Peoria on June 24, 2019, after a federal jury found Brendt Christensen guilty of kidnapping and murdering their daughter. Ye is consoled by Dr. Kim Tee, second from left, and her son Zhengyang Zhang, right.
Terrence Antonio James / Chicago TribuneJohn C. Milhiser, the United States Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Courthouse in Peoria, Ill., on Thursday, July 18, 2019, after Brendt Christensen was sentenced to life in federal prison without the possibility of release.
Alexandra Wimley / Chicago TribuneStudents comfort each other outside the federal courthouse in Urbana, Ill., on July 3, 2017, before the bond hearing for Brendt Christensen.
Terrence Antonio James / Chicago TribuneAttorney Zhidong Wang, left, speaks to the media and translates a statement from Chinese to English delivered by Ronggao Zhang, right, the father of slain University of Illinois scholar Yingying Zhang, during a press conference at the U.S. Courthouse in Peoria, Ill., on Thursday, July 18, 2019, after Brendt Christensen was sentenced to life in federal prison without the possibility of release for killing Yingying Zhang.
Alexandra Wimley / Chicago TribuneJill Bowers and her daughter Jade, 7, sit outside of the U.S. Courthouse in Urbana, Ill., on July 3, 2017, before the bond hearing for Brendt Christensen, who allegedly kidnapped visiting scholar Yingying Zhang. Bowers, who works at the University of Illinois, said she wanted to show support for Zhang's family.
Alexandra Wimley / Chicago TribunePeople hold signs supporting visiting University of Illinois scholar Yingying Zhang outside the federal courthouse in Urbana, Ill., on July 3, 2017, before the bond hearing for Brendt Christensen.
Alexandra Wimley / Chicago TribuneStudents stand outside of the U.S. Courthouse in Urbana, Ill., on July 3, 2017, before the bond hearing for Brendt Christensen, who allegedly kidnapped visiting scholar Yingying Zhang.
Terrence Antonio James/Chicago TribuneDefense attorneys Evan Bruno, center, and Tom Bruno, right, talk to the media after a hearing for their client, Brendt Christensen, at the federal courthouse in Urbana, Ill., in 2017.
Alexandra Wimley / Chicago TribuneJingle Chen, a first-year graduate student, stands outside the federal courthouse in Urbana, Ill., on July 3, 2017, before the bond hearing for Brendt Christensen.
Xinyang Zhang / APThis 2017 file photo provided by Xinyang Zhang shows his sister, Yingying, with their parents, Ronggao Zhang, right, and Lifeng Ye, at a train station in Nanping, China.
Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty ImagesDefense attorney Julie Brain arrives at court June 12, 2019, as the federal trial of Brendt Christensen begins in Peoria in the 2017 disappearance and suspected killing of Yingying Zhang, a visiting scholar from China whose body has not been found.
Abel Uribe / Chicago TribuneFBI agents investigate at an apartment building July 1, 2017, near the University of Illinois campus where 28-year-old Brendt Christensen lives.
Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty ImagesDefense attorney Robert Tucker, center, arrives at court June 12, 2019, as the federal trial of Brendt Christensen begins in Peoria in the 2017 disappearance and suspected killing of Yingying Zhang, a visiting scholar from China whose body has not been found.
Terrence Antonio James / Chicago TribuneA grief stricken Lifeng Ye, second from right, the mother of slain University of Illinois scholar Yingying Zhang, is supported by a friend Lin Guiping and Yingying's brother Zhengyang Zhang, right, as Yingying's father Ronggao Zhang, foreground, reads a statement during a press conference at the U.S. Courthouse in Peoria, Ill., on Thursday, July 18, 2019, after Brendt Christensen was sentenced to life in federal prison without the possibility of release for killing Yingying Zhang.
Alexandra Wimley / Chicago TribunePeople react at the end of the bond hearing for Brendt Christensen while standing outside the federal courthouse in Urbana, Ill., on July 3, 2017. Christensen was ordered held without bond.
Rick Danzl / APThis Oct. 11, 2018, file photo shows guests mingling after a ceremony to dedicate the memorial garden for Yingying Zhang, a Chinese scholar who disappeared from campus in June 2017.
Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty ImagesMembers of the media wait outside the federal courthouse in Peoria during the trial of Brendt Christensen on June 12, 2019.
Kamil Krzaczynski/Getty-AFPMichael Christensen, left, father of Brendt Christensen, leaves court after the first day of sentencing in his son's case.
KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP/Getty ImagesLifeng Ye, center, mother of Yingying Zhang, and Zhang's brother Zhengyang Zhang, left, arrive at the courthouse June 12, 2019, in Peoria as the federal trial of Brendt Christensen begins in the 2017 disappearance and suspected killing of Yingying Zhang, a visiting scholar from China whose body has not been found.
Abel Uribe / Chicago TribuneLaw enforcement officials walk in and out of an apartment July 1, 2017, at Stonegate Village, west of the University of Illinois campus, where 28-year-old Brendt Christensen lives.
Alexandra Wimley / Chicago TribunePeople hold signs in support of visiting scholar Yingying Zhang outside the federal courthouse in Urbana, Ill., on July 3, 2017, before the bond hearing for Brendt Christensen, who has been charged with kidnapping Zhang on the University of Illinois campus.
Alexandra Wimley / Chicago TribuneFlyers for missing visiting scholar Yingying Zhang remain posted around the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on July 2, 2017.
Alexandra Wimley / Chicago TribuneA woman holds a flag in support of University of Illinois visiting scholar Yingying Zhang outside the federal courthouse in Urbana, Ill., on July 3, 2017, before the bond hearing for Brendt Christensen, who has been charged with kidnapping Zhang.
Terrence Antonio James / Chicago TribuneLiu Jun, center, deputy consul general of the Consulate General of The People's Republic of China in Chicago, arrives for the detention hearing for Brendt Christensen, not shown, at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois in Urbana, Ill., on July 5, 2017.
Alexandra Wimley / Chicago Tribune
1 of 25
The apartment building where Brendt Christensen, who has been charged with kidnapping visiting scholar Yingying Zhang, lives near the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
ExpandPUBLISHED: | UPDATED:
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
The trial of a man charged in the 2017 kidnapping and slaying of a University of Illinois student from China will be held in Peoria instead of Urbana, a federal judge has ruled.
The News-Gazette reports that Peoria-based U.S. District Judge James Shadid this week approved a request from attorneys for Brendt Christensen to move the case, citing the convenience to parties in the case, more courthouse space and his ability to manage filings in the case.
Christensen is charged in the kidnapping and death of Yingying Zhang, who went missing on June 9, 2017. Her body has not been found.
Government attorneys have said they plan to seek the death penalty, alleging Christensen tortured Zhang before killing her.
Jury selection for the trial is scheduled to begin in April.
RELATED
