Mom Makes Crazy Admission in Her Age 5 Daughter's Murder Case
On Jan. 9 2016, parents Mingming Chen and Liang Zhao reported their 5-year-old daughter, Ashely Zhao missing.
They told police they believed she’d wandered out the back door of their restaurant sometime around 9 p.m.
The following day, police located the girl’s body poorly concealed within the parents’ Ang’s Asian Cuisine located in North Canton, Ohio. She had been badly beaten.
Initially, both parents denied any involvement in the their daughter’s demise. Still, both parents were arrested and charged.
Chen was originally charged with murdering her daughter. Officials believed that she’d beaten the child to death.
Zhao initially faced multiple charges related to complicity. Then, a chilling confession turned the entire case on its end.
With little care or hint of remorse, Chen confessed to killing her young daughter. “I need to take care of everything from the restaurant. I only have two hands. I’m not four-hands girl, I’m two hands,” Chen explained.
“I don’t want to do that to Ashley, but you can’t control yourself sometimes,” the monstrous woman added.
She told investigators her crime was provoked by frustration with Ashley’s “disobedience” after having spent an extended time with her grandparents.
Chen then told her husband to “take care of it.” However, Zhao hid her body within their establishment where she was easily found.
After the investigation was complete, Chen was formally charged with a slew of crimes including murder, obstruction of justice, and evidence tampering. She initially pleaded “not guilty” by reason of insanity to these charges.
Negotiations between councils got the charges changed to involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment of which Chen pleaded “guilty.” An illegal immigrant, she’ll be deported after her 22-year sentence.
Zhao, on the other hand, pleaded “guilty” to abuse of a corpse, obstruction of justice, evidence tampering, and child endangerment. He was sentenced to 12 years.
While nothing can take back the senseless and selfish actions of Chen and Zhao, their admission of guilt saved taxpayers the cost of a lengthy trial. This friction-free resolution kept this case from clogging up already impacted court schedules.
Running a business and raising a child are both full-time jobs. When juggling the demands of both is a necessity, anyone can feel the strain and lose their cool and perhaps scream and yell.
There is no justification, however, in exploding and taking the life of another. Although Chen’s confession suggests that she thinks her actions were reasonable considering her circumstances, violence against a child is never the answer.
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