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This frame from video provided by KABC-TV shows Andrew Garcia, 21, entering court where he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for beating to death Xinran Ji, a University of Southern California graduate student from China, in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday. Photo: AP
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Young killer who bashed Chinese student Ji Xinran to death gets life sentence in California

University of Southern California student Ji was beaten to death in 2014 by teenage gang armed with a baseball bat and a wrench

Associated Press
Associated Press
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A 21-year-old man was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole for beating to death a University of Southern California graduate student from China who was walking to his off-campus flat.

Andrew Garcia, who was convicted of first-degree murder and other charges earlier this summer, was sentenced by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge George Lomeli.

He was one of four teenagers – at the time – who attacked 24-year-old Ji Xinran, using a baseball bat and wrench, as he walked home after a late-night study session in 2014, authorities said.
Ji Xinran was beaten to death with a baseball bat and a wrench. Photo: USC
This frame from video provided by KABC-TV, shows Ji Songbo, father of slain student Ji Xinran, sobbing as he talks about the loss of his son in a victim impact statement at the sentencing of Andrew Garcia. Photo: AP
People like our age are now preparing their [child’s] wedding, and their life is full of joy. But every day instead for us we are paying tribute to our son, crying
Ji Songbo, father of Ji Xinran

Ji managed to get to his flat, where a roommate found him dead hours later.

Ji’s family wept during the sentencing. His father, Ji Songbo, sobbed as he told the court in Putonghua that his son was killed viciously.

“People like our age are now preparing their daughter’s and their son’s wedding, and their life is full of joy. But every day instead for us we are paying tribute to our son, crying,” the father said through an interpreter.

Garcia was the second of four defendants to go to trial. A young woman, Alejandra Guerrero, was convicted of the murder last year and is awaiting sentencing. Two more defendants await trial.

After the attack on Ji, prosecutors said, Garcia and the others drove to Dockweiler State Beach and robbed a man and a woman.
The parents of slain USC student Ji Xinran, Ji Songbo and mother Du Jinhui, grieve outside a funeral home in Alhambra, California on July 31 2014, where they came to view the body of their son. Photo: AFP
In this January 12, 2015, file photo, Alejandra Guerrer appears in Los Angeles Superior Court with her lawyer Errol Cook. Guerrero was found guilty of first-degree murder on October 13, 2016, in the 2014 beating death of Ji Xinran. Photo: AP
Garcia was also convicted of robbery, attempted robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. A so-called special circumstance allegation of murder during an attempted robbery was found to be true.
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