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The College of Utah introduced this week that it'll pay a $5 million settlement to the mother and father of a world pupil from China who was killed final 12 months.
Zhifan Dong, 19, died in what police say was a home violence murder in a Salt Lake Metropolis motel room on Feb. 11, 2022. Her then-boyfriend and fellow pupil, Haoyu Wang, has been charged together with her dying. An inner evaluation the college printed in July confirmed that faculty housing workers members failed a number of occasions to acknowledge Dong was in peril within the weeks main as much as her dying.
“Whereas we proceed to mourn Zhifan’s dying, we're grateful to take this necessary step towards justice for our daughter,” Dong’s father, Mingsheng Dong, and her mom, Junfang Shen, stated in a assertion Tuesday in regards to the settlement. “It's our hope that Zhifan will probably be remembered and that her reminiscence will encourage others to assist stop intimate associate violence and save lives on campus and in all our communities.”
Wang, 26, has been charged with homicide and is incarcerated. He has been declared incompetent to face trial and has pleaded not responsible by way of his legal professional, Joseph C. Alamilla.
Within the settlement, the varsity acknowledged its failure to guard Dong.
“The college acknowledges shortcomings in its response of its housing and residential schooling group to the complicated scenario that resulted in Zhifan Dong’s dying and acknowledges the horrible loss that the Dong Household has suffered,” the varsity stated.
College President Taylor Randall stated the settlement demonstrates the varsity’s “seriousness in honoring Zhifan Dong” and “dedication to the continuing work of addressing all elements of pupil security.”
Dong’s “homicide is a reminder that intimate associate violence is a societal drawback that transcends borders and cultures, and manifests in some ways,” Randall stated in a press release. “Nobody ought to must endure the loss of a kid to violence and our college will stay diligent, proceed to enhance, and advance the well being and well-being of our college students.”
Dong’s mother and father stated in an interview in July that the college had not been forthcoming about missteps in responding to their daughter’s security issues.
“We felt betrayed and lied to,” they stated. “That is bureaucratic conceitedness, contempt for all times, and an unforgivable mistake.”
On Jan. 14, 2022, practically a month earlier than she was killed, Dong alerted the varsity housing division that Salt Lake Metropolis police had arrested Wang two days earlier and accused him of assaulting her throughout an altercation, based on college paperwork. However housing workers didn’t flag the arrest to high school police till a month later — after Dong had disappeared. Information additionally confirmed that workers members repeatedly confused Dong’s identify with Wang’s and mistakenly referred to as the telephone variety of one other pupil who shared the identical identify as Wang, who can be a world pupil from China.
The college stated the settlement will probably be voted on within the coming days, as any authorized settlement in Utah involving a state entity that exceeds $1 million requires legislative approval. (Gov. Spencer Cox has already signed off on the decision.) The settlement, which received’t embrace state appropriations or funds from pupil tuition, resolves “excellent authorized claims in opposition to the college,” the college stated in an official assertion. After the inner evaluation, the varsity took disciplinary motion in opposition to three housing workers, and two others resigned.
Along with the monetary settlement, the varsity stated it is going to create a memorial on campus in Dong’s reminiscence.
Dong is the second College of Utah pupil in 4 years to be killed after having filed home violence stories to high school officers. Lauren McCluskey, a monitor athlete who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 2018, had referred to as campus police greater than 20 occasions to report harassment. In 2020, the McCluskeys secured a multimillion-dollar settlement from the college by way of Parker & McConkie, the legislation agency representing the Dong household.
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