INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Yue Jiang: Arizona College Student Shot To Death After Minor Fender Bender

By Leigh Egan
Published on: 09:58 PST, Jan 21, 2016

A woman who allegedly shot and killed an Arizona State University (ACU) college student over a minor “fender bender” car accident claims that she committed the crime in hopes of police shooting her.

People reports that Holly Davis, 32, driving a silver Volkswagen Passat, rear-ended 19-year-old Jiang’s vehicle, who was waiting at a red light at Broadway Road and McClintock Drive in Tempe, Arizona. After she hit Jiang’s car, Davis allegedly got out of her own car and walked up to Jiang and fired into her car with a gun.

Jiang’s car veered out of control after the gunshot, and crashed into other vehicles. Jiang died from a gunshot wound and several others were injured. Tempe authorities report that Jiang was on her way back from a shopping trip when the incident occurred. Jiang, sophomore at ASU, was an international student from China.

When authorities interrogated Davis, she told them she hoped that police would shoot her, indicating that she fired at Jiang so that she would be shot and killed herself. When police searched Davis’ car, they found a note she had written, more than likely to her boyfriend, stating that she’d probably be on the news soon.

“I love you more than anything but right now … I figured out you’ll see me on the news. Be safe. It was a good run. Just remember me. Always. Last line I’ll ever do! I just want you to be happy. I want to be burned.”

Davis was arrested on suspicion of murder and booked into the Maricopa County jail. On Tuesday, she appeared at the Maricopa County Superior Court for a bond hearing, which was set at $1.5 million.

Meanwhile, Jiang’s death touched a lot of students and staff members at ACU, where she was a finance major at the W.P. Carey School of Business. A fellow student, Bojun Wu, stated that the news spread quickly throughout the Chinese community of the school. Shock and sadness permeated the air after learning of the death of Jiang. According to Wu,

“I would say everybody knows this right now. This Chinese community, every single person knows this case. People are all kind of shocked or sad about it.”

Although Wu didn’t know Jiang well, he remembers her as a “nice and easygoing” person, and was shocked at the randomness of the shooting.

“I mean, this accident could happen to anyone, including me. I was driving on the road at that time. But I was not driving on that road. What if it happened to me? It could happen to anybody. That is what shocked us the most. She didn’t do anything wrong.”

On Wednesday evening, Tempe Police attempted to help the Chinese students at the university and ease their fears. They made it clear that the shooting more than likely had nothing to do with race, and was simply a random act where Jiang was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tempe Police Commander Noah Johnson told students that authorities are “here to help” and tried to assure students that the shooting wasn’t a hate crime intended for Chinese students.

Regardless, ASU engineering professor Yinong Chen said that since Saturday, numerous students sent emails, asking about the details of the shooting and if they were safe.

“All send me emails asking what’s happening, whether the gun violence in the U.S. also spread to Arizona. I tell them this is really a random event which can happen anywhere…. There are a lot of discussion in Chinese media. I do want to tell them that Arizona, ASU is safe.”

Holly Davis remains incarcerated, charged with suspicion of murder of Yue Jang. Should Davis make bond, she’ll be required to stay on house arrest while wearing an ankle bracelet that traces her whereabouts.

[Image via Tempe Police Department]

Share this article: Yue Jiang: Arizona College Student Shot To Death After Minor Fender Bender
More from Inquisitr