Victim's family submits petition calling for death sentence
![A family member of victim Lee Chae-won holds a one-person protest outside the Gwangju District Court in Jisan-dong, Dong-gu, Gwangju, on Monday — two days before the first-instance sentencing of Jang Yun-gi, who is charged with murdering a high school girl. The protester called for the maximum sentence allowed by law. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/09/29/rcv.YNA.20260928.PYH2026092803840005401_P1.jpg)
A Gwangju court will hand down its first-instance ruling Wednesday against Jang Yun-gi, 23, who killed Lee Chae-won, a high school girl he had never met, in the city's Gwangsan-gu district.
The 13th Criminal Division of the Gwangju District Court, presided over by Chief Judge Lee Jeong-ho, will deliver its verdict Wednesday against Jang, who was indicted on charges including rape-murder under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty — the maximum sentence under law — at a hearing on Aug. 31. "The young female victim collapsed on a cold sidewalk and died without even knowing why she had to suffer," prosecutors said, adding that "there are special circumstances that could justify a death sentence for the defendant, given the degree of responsibility commensurate with the crimes in this case."
Lee's family staged a one-person protest outside the Gwangju District Court on Monday, holding signs that read "My 17-year-old daughter, Lee Chae-won, is dead" and "Your Honor, please answer with the death penalty for murderer Jang Yun-gi." The family also submitted a petition to the court demanding the maximum sentence, which carried 99,342 signatures calling for severe punishment.
Jang was indicted on charges of killing Lee in the early hours of May 5 on a deserted roadside in Wolge-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, and of injuring with a weapon a male student who ran to the scene after hearing her screams.
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