HR0779 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0779 LRB101 20840 ECR 70615 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Yingying Zhang arrived at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in April of 2017 to contribute to research in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences; and

WHEREAS, Yingying Zhang was an environmental engineering scholar from Nanping, a small city in the Fujian province in southeast China, where her parents and boyfriend lived; and

WHEREAS, In June of 2017, Zhang went missing after getting into a black SUV near the UIUC campus; and

WHEREAS, After an extensive investigation and search efforts by local, state, and federal authorities, Yingying Zhang was declared dead in the summer of 2017; and

WHEREAS, The loss of Zhang's life devastated the Champaign-Urbana community, the academic community, and the global community; UIUC honored Zhang's life with a number of vigils and rallies; and

WHEREAS, Detective Eric Stiverson of the University of Illinois Police Department was one of two interrogators in an initial interview with the main suspect, Brendt Christensen, in Yingying Zhang's case; and

WHEREAS, Detective Stiverson leaned on his experience as a seasoned interrogator to encourage Brendt Christensen to admit that he did indeed pick up Yingying Zhang, and the investigation unfolded from there; and

WHEREAS, Detective Stiverson's interrogation helped secure Brendt Christensen's conviction, and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole; and

WHEREAS, Detective Stiverson has served as an investigator and interrogator for the University of Illinois Police Department, Champaign County, and the State of Illinois for over 20 years; in 2005, he served as a deputy sheriff for the Piatt County Sheriff's Office in Monticello, Illinois, where he was assigned to patrol; in 2012, he transferred to the University of Illinois Police Department in Urbana, Illinois, where he served as a patrol officer until becoming a detective in 2015; he has conducted numerous death investigations as well as several high-profile homicide investigations; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that without Detective Stiverson's skilled interrogation, it is likely this case could have gone unsolved; and be it further

RESOLVED, That due to Detective Stiverson's work, Yingying Zhang's family at least has the comfort of knowing who was responsible for her devastating murder, and we send our deepest sympathies and condolences to the Zhang family; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we commend Detective Stiverson for his exemplary work in the murder case of Yingying Zhang and for his service to Champaign County and the entire state of Illinois.