A court sentenced Jang Yun-gi, 23, to life in prison for murdering a high school girl in a sexually motivated attack.
The 13th criminal division of the Gwangju District Court, presided over by Chief Judge Lee Jung-ho, handed down the ruling at 2 p.m. at the first trial sentencing hearing for Jang, who was indicted while in custody on charges including rape and murder under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.
Jang was sent to trial on charges of killing a high school girl around midnight on May 5 on a quiet footpath in Wolgye-dong, Gwangsan District, Gwangju, and of wielding a knife at a second-year high school boy who ran to the scene after hearing screams.
Prosecutors indicted him under the charge of rape-murder, which carries only the death penalty or life imprisonment. At the final hearing, they had sought the death penalty.
