By Joe Bachman
Multimedia Editor

A 2016 selfie shows Zhang Yingying in a cap and gown for her graduate degree in environmental engineering from Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School. Photo: Zhang family via AP — Source: South China Morning Post.

STEVENS POINT — A Stevens Point native has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a a 26-year-old scholar from China on Thursday afternoon.

According to reports, 30-year-old Brendt Christensen sexually assaulted and murdered Yingying Zhang near the University of Illinois campus. Christensen abducted Yingying from a bus stop near campus before choking and stabbing her. He would then beat her to death with a baseball bat and decapitate her. Her remains have yet to be found.

Reports state that Christensen likely forced Zhang into a duffel bag to carry her to his apartment located in Urbana, Ill., just outside of Chicago. Prosecutors argued that Christensen fantasized about killing, and sought help in efforts to curb homicidal fantasies.

Christensen began his studies as a doctoral student at the university in 2013.

In their second day of deliberations, a jury would ultimate fail to agree on the death penalty in a necessary unanimous decision, resulting in life imprisonment.