Ashley Zhao was a five-year-old girl who went missing from her family’s restaurant in North Canton, Ohio, on January 9, 2017. Her disappearance sparked a massive search involving local and federal authorities, who initially believed that she had wandered out of the back door of the restaurant. However, the next day, her body was found “concealed” in the kitchen of the restaurant, near the freezer. The shocking discovery led to the arrest and conviction of her parents, who were accused of killing her and hiding her body.
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The Disappearance of Ashley Zhao
Ashley Zhao was last seen alive on the morning of January 9, 2017, at Ang’s Asian Cuisine, a restaurant owned by her parents, Mingming Chen and Liang Zhao. According to her parents, Ashley went to lay down in the back of the restaurant around 4 p.m. Her mother said that when she went to check on her around 9 p.m., the child was gone. Her parents reported her missing to the police, who issued a Statewide Endangered Child Alert for her. The police and the public searched for Ashley throughout the night, hoping to find her safe and sound.
The Discovery of Ashley Zhao’s Body
On the morning of January 10, 2017, while searching the restaurant, the police found Ashley’s body “concealed” in the kitchen, close to the freezer. The police did not reveal how the body was hidden, but said that it was not easily visible. The police also did not disclose the cause of death, but said that it was a homicide. The police arrested Chen and Zhao for their daughter’s death, and charged them with murder, felonious assault, corpse abuse, and other crimes. The police said that they had evidence that Chen had repeatedly punched Ashley in the face until she died, and that Zhao had helped her hide the body.
The Trial and Sentencing of Ashley Zhao’s Parents
Chen and Zhao were held on $5 million bond each, as the judge considered them a flight risk. Chen, who had come to the U.S. illegally as a teenager, confessed to beating Ashley to death in a video recorded by the police. She said that she was exhausted by working at the restaurant, and that Ashley had become disobedient. She also said that she told Zhao that Ashley was dead, and asked him to hide the body. Chen pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but later changed her plea to guilty of involuntary manslaughter. She was sentenced to 22 years in prison, and will be deported to China after her release.
Zhao, who was a U.S. citizen, agreed to testify against Chen in exchange for a plea deal. He pleaded guilty to two counts of child endangerment, corpse abuse, obstruction of justice, and evidence tampering. He said that he found Ashley lying on the floor with head injuries and green fluid coming out of her mouth. He said that he took her to the bathroom to clean her face, but she had stopped breathing. He said that he tried to perform CPR, but failed to revive her. He also admitted that he helped Chen hide Ashley’s body in the restaurant. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
The Impact of Ashley Zhao’s Death
Ashley Zhao’s death shocked and saddened the community, who had hoped to find her alive. Many people expressed their condolences and outrage on social media, and some left flowers and stuffed animals outside the restaurant. Some people also questioned how the parents could have killed their own child, and how the police could have missed the body during their initial search. The case also raised awareness about child abuse and domestic violence, and the need to protect vulnerable children from harm. Ashley Zhao’s death was a tragic and senseless loss of a young life, and a reminder of the evil that can lurk behind closed doors.
