Full Text of HR0778 101st General Assembly
HR0778 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Yingying Zhang arrived at the University of | 3 | | Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in April of 2017 to contribute | 4 | | to research in the Department of Natural Resources and | 5 | | Environmental Sciences; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Yingying Zhang was an environmental engineering | 7 | | scholar from Nanping, a small city in the Fujian province in | 8 | | southeast China, where her parents and boyfriend lived; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, In June of 2017, Yingying Zhang went missing after | 10 | | getting into a black SUV near the UIUC campus; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, After an extensive investigation and search | 12 | | efforts by local, state, and federal authorities, Yingying | 13 | | Zhang was declared dead in the summer of 2017; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, The loss of Zhang's life devastated the | 15 | | Champaign-Urbana community, the academic community, and the | 16 | | global community; UIUC honored Zhang's life with a number of | 17 | | vigils and rallies; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, During the investigation, University of Illinois | 19 | | Police Department (UIPD) telecommunicator Kenny Costa examined | 20 | | a large amount of security
video in order to trace Yingying |
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| 1 | | Zhang's movements before she disappeared and found video | 2 | | footage of her
entering a black SUV; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, The discovery of this footage was a turning point | 4 | | in the case; Kenny Costa's work led to other essential | 5 | | discoveries that
helped to narrow the search for Yingying | 6 | | Zhang's murderer down to one man who is now being held | 7 | | accountable for his heinous crime; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, UIPD telecommunicators have many | 9 | | responsibilities, including being the first
voice you hear on | 10 | | the phone, the first face who greets you at the front desk, and | 11 | | being the person who keeps you calm in times of crisis; with | 12 | | his experience in loss prevention and
customer service, Kenny | 13 | | Costa is a perfect fit for the job; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Kenny Costa was the 2015 recipient of UIPD's | 15 | | Civilian Employee of the Year Award; his expertise and | 16 | | attention to detail
created a turning point in the Yingying | 17 | | Zhang investigation; therefore, be it | 18 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 19 | | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 20 | | without Kenny Costa's work to trace Yingying Zhang throughout | 21 | | the UIUC campus the day she disappeared, it is likely this case | 22 | | could have gone unsolved; and be it further
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That due to Kenny Costa's work, Yingying Zhang's | 2 | | family at least has the comfort of knowing who was responsible | 3 | | for her devastating murder, and we send our deepest sympathies | 4 | | and condolences to the Zhang family; and be it further
| 5 | | RESOLVED, That we commend Kenny Costa for his exemplary | 6 | | work in the murder case of Yingying Zhang and for his service | 7 | | to Champaign County and the entire state of Illinois.
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