Inset: Alan Wang (DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office). Background: The 1100 block of North Mill Street in Naperville, Ill., where Alan Wang lived with his wife Hongyan Yang before murdering her (Google Maps).
An Illinois man has been convicted of murder for the “brutal” slaying of his wife, with prosecutors saying he “found texts on her phone from another man” and then kicked the 35-year-old to death while they were lounging in their bedroom.
Alan Wang, 61, of Naperville, tried claiming during his trial that he was only attempting to wake up his wife, Hongyan Yang, when he pummeled her with kicks in March 2020 inside their home, according to local prosecutors.
DuPage County Judge Ann Celine O’Hallaren Walsh, however, wasn’t buying it and found Wang guilty of first-degree murder this week.
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At the time of the killing, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Wang had repeatedly kicked Yang’s legs and caused “deep soft tissue hemorrhaging” that led to her death, citing statements from prosecutors.
Wang was initially charged with one count of aggravated domestic battery following Yang’s death, but his charges were upgraded after autopsy results came back showing Yang died of blunt force trauma due to assault.
The DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday that Wang was convicted after a four-day trial.
“On March 8, 2020, at approximately 4:50 p.m., personnel from the Naperville Police and Fire Departments responded to a call at the couple’s residence regarding a female who was not breathing,” the office said in a press release.
“Following an investigation conducted by the Naperville Police Department into Yang’s death, authorities learned that in the evening hours of March 7, 2020, Wang and his wife were in their bedroom and when Wang found texts on her phone from another man, he kicked his wife multiple times,” prosecutors explained. “The following day, a relative of the couple called 911 when it appeared that the victim stopped breathing.”
Wang’s next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 12, when he’s slated to appear for post-trial motions, the state’s attorney’s office says.
“Judge O’Hallaren Walsh’s guilty verdict ensures that Mr. Wang will be held responsible for the brutal murder of his wife,” the office concluded. “To Hongyan’s surviving family and friends, I offer my sincerest condolences on their loss and wish them strength as they continue their lives without the love and support she once provided.”
