In the city of Guanzhen, Putou Village, Youxi County, Sanming City, Fujian Province, a 7-year-old boy was fatally hit by a truck while urinating on the roadside. His father, Zhang Yi, was heartbroken and wept over his son’s body. However, what people did not expect was that this was actually a meticulously planned “kill son for insurance fraud” case, and the truth of the incident was not revealed until a year later.
According to a report by “Red Star News” on November 5, 2020, the incident occurred on the evening of October 30, 2020. A man riding a motorcycle passing by the scene stated that at that time, a small car was parked on the roadside, the child was urinating behind the car, and the truck directly hit the child and the vehicle. The driver, Zhang Jia, argued that he was looking down to set up the navigation on his phone at the time, and did not notice the front which led to the rear-end collision. However, both Zhang Yi and Zhang Jia did not inform the police that they were cousins.
Zhang Jia’s sister found the death of the child very unexpected, saying, “It’s so coincidental that a traffic accident resulted in Zhang Jia driving and killing his own nephew.”
In November 2020, the local traffic police brigade issued a liability determination document, attributing full responsibility for the accident to Zhang Jia. It was reported that Zhang Jia was a driver employed by Luo, and the truck was insured with compulsory insurance and commercial insurance.
In December 2020, through mediation, Zhang Jia voluntarily compensated the Zhang family with 1.05 million RMB (including the 40,000 RMB paid by Luo before mediation), of which the insurance approved a compensation of over 980,000 RMB, and Zhang Jia compensated over 20,000 RMB beyond the insurance claim. The two parties signed a criminal settlement agreement.
In January 2021, Zhang Jia was sentenced to one year and two months in prison with a suspended sentence of one year and six months for causing a traffic accident. In February of the same year, an insurance company paid 180,000 RMB in death compensation from the truck’s compulsory insurance to Zhang Yi. However, because Zhang Jia’s road transport qualification certificate was forged, an insurance company refused to pay out the third-party liability insurance.
In March 2021, Zhang Yi sued an insurance company, Zhang Jia, and Luo, demanding over 870,000 RMB in compensation. In July 2021, the Youxi County Court ruled that the insurance company should compensate over 810,000 RMB. The insurance company appealed, and after an inquiry by the Sanming City Transportation Management Office, no relevant information on Zhang Jia’s road transport qualification certificate and training records was found. In December 2021, the Sanming Intermediate Court changed the judgment to make Luo pay over 790,000 RMB to Zhang Yi.
Upon learning of the judgment, Luo was shocked. According to Luo’s testimony, in January 2022, he informed his friend Ye of the court’s decision. Ye told him that in September 2020, Zhang Yi had asked him if he could use his car to kill his son, claiming the child was “seriously ill,” and that they would stage a fake traffic accident to claim insurance money and split the amount. Ye immediately refused, and Zhang Yi warned him not to speak of it. Ye had previously hired Zhang Yi to drive a truck.
Ye’s testimony confirmed that in 2020, Zhang Yi and Zhang Jia approached him to recommend Zhang Jia to work for Luo. After the incident, he suspected that the two deliberately caused the traffic accident but was afraid of retaliation so he didn’t speak up. The day after the incident, Zhang Yi met him and claimed that he was not involved in his son’s death, and urged him to keep silent about the matter. However, upon learning that Luo was ordered to pay a large sum in compensation, he felt it was unjust and decided to inform Luo about the incident.
In March 2022, Luo reported to the traffic police brigade, suspecting that Zhang Jia killed his nephew to commit insurance fraud. In April 2023, Zhang Yi and Zhang Jia were arrested.
Investigations revealed that from March to April 2020, due to reasons such as his wife Luo’s infidelity and financial difficulties at home, Zhang Yi, after quarreling with his wife Luo, conceived the idea of causing a traffic accident to kill his son and fraudulently obtain insurance compensation. After Ye’s refusal, Zhang Yi turned to Zhang Jia and promised to split the insurance money with him after killing his son and fraudulently obtaining compensation. Zhang Jia agreed after considering the offer.
In the afternoon of October 30, 2020, after receiving a notification to drive from his employer Luo, Zhang Jia informed Zhang Yi over the phone, and the two agreed on the location and time to stage a rear-end accident through their mobile phones.
After the crime, an insurance company paid 180,000 RMB in compulsory traffic insurance, of which Zhang Yi gave Zhang Jia 30,000 RMB.
According to a reporter from Red Star News obtaining information from the China Judicial Documents Network, Zhang Yi was sentenced to death for the “kill son for insurance fraud” case; Zhang Jia was sentenced to death with a two-year suspension of execution and a reduction of sentence limit.
The ruling also mentioned that after being sentenced to death, Zhang Yi and Zhang Jia appealed for leniency. The second trial decision, rejecting the appeal, upheld the original judgment. On November 5, the reporter attempted to contact the court regarding the Zhang Yi case multiple times but received no response and was unable to obtain the latest information on the case.