Tailei Qi — the former UNC graduate student accused of shooting and killing physics professor Zijie Yan on campus in 2023 — is now competent to stand trial in Yan’s death, an Orange County Superior Court judge ruled on Wednesday. Qi’s attorneys indicated they plan to plead not guilty by reason of insanity in the case.
According to The News & Observer and ABC 11, Qi made his first extended court appearance since being declared mentally unfit to go through the court proceedings for the first-degree murder charges he faces from Aug. 28, 2023. Yan was killed in UNC’s Caudill Laboratories building, with witnesses on the scene quickly identifying Qi as a prime suspect and law enforcement arresting the Chinese national off campus roughly 90 minutes later.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour heard from both the prosecution and Qi’s defense team to determine a path forward for the trial. Following a mental health report conducted by Central Regional Hospital and submitted to the court, the district attorney staff pushed to restart its prosecution based on its results. Baddour asked direct questions to Qi, who responded through a Mandarin interpreter with short answers and acknowledged that he understands the charges he faces.
Tailei Qi, a former UNC graduate student accused of killing researcher Zijie Yan, during his first appearance at the Orange County Courthouse in Aug. 2023. (Photo via Robert Willet/News & Observer.)
The 36-year-old Qi has been held at Central Regional Hospital since Superior Court Judge Alyson Grine ruled he was unfit to stand trial in Nov. 2023. At the time, the graduate student’s mental evaluations determined he was suffering from schizophrenia and demonstrated behaviors of delusions and self-harm. His admittance to the Butner, N.C. facility gave mental health professionals a chance to treat Qi’s condition in order for him to eventually stand trial.
Yan died from gunshot wounds from a 9 mm handgun while in Caudill Labs, where he often worked as part UNC’s Applied Physical Sciences department since joining the faculty in 2019. He was Qi’s academic advisor and the graduate student had worked in Yan’s lab researching how to manipulate atoms and light to advance nanotechnology. Warrants after the Aug. 28 shooting revealed witness testimony that Qi was seen with a gun in his hand and argued with Yan before gunfire was heard. Investigators also found Qi purchased a firearm from the Charlotte area and went to a shooting range in the days before Yan’s death. The weapon, so far, has not been recovered by law enforcement.
Orange County District Attorney Jeff Nieman said in 2023 — and has maintained — that his office is not seeking the death penalty in Qi’s trial, despite it being the most extreme punishment available if a jury finds Qi guilty. The choice is consistent with Nieman’s pledge since being elected in 2022 that he would never seek capital punishment.
UNC leaders and the Applied Physical Sciences community marked the two-year anniversary of Yan’s death last August by holding a ceremony to share memories of the researcher, celebrate his work and unveil a memorial bench that sits outside the window of Yan’s old first-floor office.
Featured photo by Brighton McConnell/Chapel Hill Media Group.
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
