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Qinxuan Pan, a PhD candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was reportedly found guilty of fatally shooting a Yale University graduate student named Kevin Jiang on the night of February 6, 2021. Kevin had recently graduated with his fiancé, Zion Perry.
While returning to his apartment in New Haven, Connecticut, Kevin's car was hit by a dark SUV from behind. According to CBS News, when Kevin came out of his car to check on the scene, Qinxuan Pan fired eight bullets at him. After investigation, the New Haven police found that Qinxuan Pan had a romantic interest in Zion Perry.
As per the same publication, Qinxuan killed Kevin as an act of revenge after he got engaged to Zion. Qinxuan was caught by the police in Alabama and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. According to the official website of the Connecticut State Department of Correction, he is currently serving his time behind bars at Cheshire Correctional Institution in New Haven County, Connecticut.
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The story behind the murder of Kevin Jiang is documented in the CBS' true series, 48 Hours. The episode is titled The Ivy League Murder, released on January 25, 2025, at 9 pm EST.
What happened to Kevin Jiang?
Born on February 14, 1994, in Seattle, Washington, Kevin Jiang was a student of environmental science at Yale University. Before joining there, Kevin had attended the North Seattle College and the University of Washington. As per a Yale News article, published on February 7, 2021, Kevin had served as an engineering officer and environmental scientist at the US Army National Guard.
Kevin was into charity and frequently volunteered for the homeless at the Trinity Baptist Church. According to a CBS report, published on January 24, 2025, Pastor Gregory Hendrickson, described Kevin and Zion as nature lovers. Zion was studying molecular biophysics, and biochemistry, while Kevin was studying environmental science.
It was on January 30, 2021, when they got engaged and Zion went on to post their pictures on her Facebook account, On February 6, 2021, the couple reportedly spent the entire day together, going hiking and ice fishing. Kevin went for dinner at Zion's home in East Rock, New Haven.
Kevin used to live with his mother in New Haven, Connecticut and was heading straight to his apartment after dinner. As per CBS News, just two blocks before reaching his home, Kevin's car was struck by a dark SUV from behind. Right when Kevin came out of his car to check on the accident, the driver came outside and reportedly shot him eight times.
According to the aforementioned media report, one of the primary witnesses said that she saw the murderer dressed all in black. And even after Kevin was on the ground, the culprit kept on firing bullets on him. A surveillance video from a nearby location confirmed the witness' claims.
The investigation for the murder of Kevin Jiang
The New Haven police department took on the investigation and retrieved .45 caliber bullet shells from the scene. As per CBS News, the police revealed that a couple of months prior to the murder, a shooter with a .35 caliber gun had committed four more attacks in the surrounding area.
However, David Zaweski, the prime investigator behind the murder, said that the shooting was more than a road fight. CBS News quoted David saying:
"It seems a little bit more personal, he further added, "When you have someone laying on the ground and not moving, what would cause someone to continue firing?"
Kevin's fiancé and all of his close ones described him to be a very humble man, with no enemies. The case was reportedly almost hitting a dead end until the investigators received a call from Sgt. Jeffrey Mills from North Haven police. As per Mills, they had received a 911 emergency call from a driver, whose car was stuck at a snow-covered railroad track, outside a scrap metal yard.
As per CBS News, the man was identified as Qinxuan Pan, who was from Malden, Massachusetts. He had no past criminal records and was assisted with a tow at a hotel room in the surrounding area. Mills dismissed the case not being aware of the murder of Kevin Jiang in New Haven. However, almost 15 years later, they received another call from a nearby Arby's resturant.
The employers revealed that they had found a bag containing a gun, along with a box of .45 caliber bullets. Surprisingly, Qinxuan Pan was staying in the Best Western Hotel, which was very close to Arby's resturant. When the investigators reached the hotel, they found that though Qinxuan Pan had checked into the hotel, he didn't stay there.
When detectives went to Malden in search of Qinxuan Pan, they discovered their residence completely empty. According to the same publication, Detective Zaweski scrolled through Facebook, intending to find out if Kevin and Qinxuan were connected. However, no such connection could be found. When Zaweski went to open Zion Perry's Facebook account, he found that she was a friend of Qinxuan Pan online.
As per CBS News, investigators found that Zion and Perry both completed their undergraduate from MIT, and they met at a Christian group. Zion revealed that Qinxuan Pan hardly talked to her during their college days. She eventually moved to New Haven, and investigators believed that's when Qinxuan Pan started getting attracted to her.
The search for Qinxuan Pan
Zaweski reportedly said that Kevin's murder was committed just a week after Zion had revealed their engagement on Facebook. The picture was slowly getting clear—why the .45 caliber bullet shooting had happened in the area surrounding Kevin's residence. Qinxuan Pan was trying to distract the police, fabricating it to look like a serial killing attack case.
Investigators discovered that Qinxuan Pan came from a millionaire family, and it was elevated to a high-profile case. Soon, the U.S. Marshals joined the investigation, and a massive search for Qinxuan Pan began. It was found that the family had fled towards the south after the murder.
Qinxuan Pan's parents were traced to Georgia, however, he was not there. His parents reiterated to the cops that Pan had simply walked out of the car. The search went on for weeks, where the culprit's parents were kept under surveillance. Later, Pan's mother mistakenly made a call to him from a hotel clerk's phone.
Investigators immediately tracked down his location, which led them to a house in Montgomery, Alabama. According to Hartford Courant newspaper, Qinxuan Pan was finally discovered by the police on May 14, 2021. He was living under the fake identity of Henry Choi. The police reportedly retrieved a sum of $ 19,000 cash from him, along with multiple cell phones and his father's passport.
As per a New Haven Register, the trial for Qinxuan began on December 9, 2022, when he declared himself innocent. Judge Jon Alander shifted the case to another hearing, considering the charges against him could be revised.
The New York Times reported that Qinxuan Pan pleaded guilty to the murder of Kevin Jiang, and the multiple shootings on December 9, 2022. As per a New Haven Independent article, published on April 24, 2024, Qinxuan accepted a plea deal in exchange for a concession on his punishment.
It was on April 23, 2024, when Qinxuan Pan was sentenced to 35 years of imprisonment. Qinxuan Pan is currently an inmate in the Cheshire Correctional Institution, located in Cheshire, New Haven County, Connecticut. He will spend his time behind bars until the year 2056.
To learn more about the murder of Kevin Jiang watch the 48 Hours episode titled The Ivy League Murder on CBS.
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