On November 9, 2021, a 24-year-old Chinese male, Shaoxiong “Dennis” Zheng, was walking near the University of Illinois Chicago campus in Hyde Park, when a car pulled up and a gunman confronted him on the sidewalk in the 900 block of East 54th Place; The gunman demanded the laptop Shaoxiong 'Dennis' Zheng was carrying and any other valuables he had.
A struggle followed; a single shot struck Shaoxiong 'Dennis' Zheng in the chest.
He was taken a short distance to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where the 24-year-old male victim was pronounced dead shortly before 2 p.m. that afternoon.
The 24-year-old Zheng had recently completed a master's degree in statistics at the University of Illinois Chicago and was remembered by faculty and friends as a generous, curious scholar with plans for a career in data science.
Born in Sichuan, China, Shaoxiong 'Dennis' Zheng studied at the University of Hong Kong before enrolling at UIC.
The university held a memorial for 24-year-old Shaoxiong 'Dennis' Zheng on November 18, 2021, at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel.
Investigators pieced together the moments around the killing of the 24-year-old College student, using surveillance cameras and license plate reader technology.
Police said a stolen Ford Mustang was identified as the getaway vehicle; later, when officers arrested a suspect, they recovered the Mustang's key fob and two firearms, including one that was ballistically linked to the shooting of Shaoxiong 'Dennis' Zheng.
According to police and prosecutors, the victim's laptop and iPhone were robbed at gunpoint and then pawned for $100 not long after Shaoxiong 'Dennis' Zheng was shot.
On November 12, 2021, police announced the arrest of 18-year-old Alton Spann.
He was charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery, and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon in the killing of 24-year-old Chinese College student Shaoxiong 'Dennis' Zheng.
A judge later ordered him held without bail.
Prosecutors alleged the 18-year-old suspect pawned the electronics taken from the victim and that video, license plate data, and phone tracking traced his movements around the time of the murder.
Court filings described additional people inside the stolen Mustang when Shaoxiong Zheng was shot, but as of the initial charging, police publicly identified only Alton Spann as the person charged in the case.
Detectives said they continued to investigate whether others were involved, while emphasizing that the 18-year-old suspect was the sole person charged related to the killing of 24-year-old University of Illinois Chicago Student, Shaoxiong 'Dennis' Zheng.
