More than three years after a materials scientist at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hill was shot dead in his office by a PhD student in his group, that man – who has admitted the shooting – has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Judge Richard Baddour dismissed the first-degree murder charge against Tailei Qi on 18 September. Qi and his victim, Zijie Yan, had published several nanoscience papers together and both received their undergraduate degrees at universities in Wuhan, China, before moving to the US to pursue further studies.
On 28 August 2023, Qi shot Yan seven times, triggering a campuswide lockdown for several hours. The Caudill Labs building where the shooting took place, which houses the university’s chemistry department, was closed for three days.
As a non-immigrant in the US on a student visa, Qi was not allowed to lawfully buy the 9mm pistol he used to shoot Yan, and he was found to have illegally sourced the weapon, which was reportedly never located by law enforcement.
He was found unfit to stand trial due to mental illness in November 2023, and was admitted to a mental health facility for treatment. But then, based on an updated mental health evaluation from the hospital where Qi was being treated, Baddour ruled in March of this year that Qi is competent to stand trial. Following the guilty finding, Qi will now be indefinitely committed to a state-operated psychiatric facility in North Carolina.
In social media posts before the shooting, Qi indicated his belief that fellow lab members were persecuting him. They also reveal that Qi was feeling overextended in the lab, complaining about working more than 60 hours a week and being tired.
