In Chengdu, the case of 27-year-old Wang Ziya who was murdered outside her home is set to be retried, bringing the judicial controversy of mental assessment back into the spotlight. The tragic incident that occurred two years ago quickly ignited public outrage due to the brutality of the perpetrator, and the initial verdict of “death penalty with a two-year reprieve” for the perpetrator escalated the controversy to its peak. The mother of the victim, Ms. Wang, has been suffering greatly for the past two years.
On June 9, 2024, in a residential area in Pixian District, Chengdu, Wang Ziya was harassed by a 35-year-old female resident named Liang Moying at her residence. After questioning her at the door, Wang Ziya was stabbed to death by Liang Moying with 10 consecutive blows.
According to judicial assessment, Liang Moying suffers from schizophrenia, and her illegal actions on the day of the incident were determined to have been committed with partial criminal responsibility.
On December 20, 2025, the Chengdu Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Liang Moying to death for intentional homicide, with a two-year reprieve. Liang Moying has appealed the verdict.
The court accepted the assessment result of her “schizophrenia and partial criminal responsibility,” stating that Liang Moying was restricted in her criminal responsibility at the time of the crime and thus should be given lenient punishment.
The victim’s mother, Ms. Wang, questioned how the perpetrator could be mentally ill.
This highly publicized case will be retried at the Sichuan High People’s Court on June 16.
The news regarding the “retrial of the 27-year-old Chengdu woman murder case” once again sparked heated discussions online and became a trending topic.
On June 14, Extreme News reported that the victim’s mother, Ms. Wang, looked haggard, with the house filled with her daughter’s photos and multiple bouquets of flowers gifted by netizens.
Ms. Wang revealed that on June 12, the Sichuan High People’s Court held a pre-trial meeting, focusing on who initiated the violence between the victim and the assailant at the time of the incident, as well as the assailant’s claim of self-defense.
In addition, Ms. Wang has changed her legal representative and requested a new mental assessment for the defendant. However, she has not received a clear response from the court yet.
Ms. Wang expressed that ever since she received news of the retrial, she has been deeply grieving, finding it difficult to sleep and only managing to sleep for two to three hours a night. June 9 marked the 2nd anniversary of Wang Ziya’s death, and Ms. Wang visited the grave to pay her respects, saying, “I am my daughter’s only living direct relative, and I must seek justice for her.”
“It has been 735 days since my daughter was murdered,” Ms. Wang stated, expressing that every single day is torment for her, and she hopes for an ideal outcome in the retrial.