Bill Text: IL HR0779 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Commends Detective Eric Stiverson for his exemplary work in the murder case of Yingying Zhang and for his service to Champaign County and the State of Illinois.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 4-1)
Status: (Passed) 2020-02-26 - Resolution Adopted [HR0779 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2019-HR0779-Introduced.html
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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Yingying Zhang arrived at the University of | ||||||
3 | Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in April of 2017 to contribute | ||||||
4 | to research in the Department of Natural Resources and | ||||||
5 | Environmental Sciences; and
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6 | WHEREAS, Yingying Zhang was an environmental engineering | ||||||
7 | scholar from Nanping, a small city in the Fujian province in | ||||||
8 | southeast China, where her parents and boyfriend lived; and
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9 | WHEREAS, In June of 2017, Zhang went missing after getting | ||||||
10 | into a black SUV near the UIUC campus; and
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11 | WHEREAS, After an extensive investigation and search | ||||||
12 | efforts by local, state, and federal authorities, Yingying | ||||||
13 | Zhang was declared dead in the summer of 2017; and
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14 | WHEREAS, The loss of Zhang's life devastated the | ||||||
15 | Champaign-Urbana community, the academic community, and the | ||||||
16 | global community; UIUC honored Zhang's life with a number of | ||||||
17 | vigils and rallies; and
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18 | WHEREAS, Detective Eric Stiverson of the University of | ||||||
19 | Illinois Police Department was one of two interrogators in an | ||||||
20 | initial interview with the main suspect, Brendt Christensen, in |
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1 | Yingying Zhang's case; and
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2 | WHEREAS, Detective Stiverson leaned on his experience as a | ||||||
3 | seasoned interrogator to encourage Brendt Christensen to admit | ||||||
4 | that he did indeed pick up Yingying Zhang, and the | ||||||
5 | investigation unfolded from there; and
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6 | WHEREAS, Detective Stiverson's interrogation helped secure | ||||||
7 | Brendt Christensen's conviction, and he was sentenced to life | ||||||
8 | in prison without parole; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Detective Stiverson has served as an investigator | ||||||
10 | and interrogator for the University of Illinois Police | ||||||
11 | Department, Champaign County, and the State of Illinois for | ||||||
12 | over 20 years; in 2005, he served as a deputy sheriff for the | ||||||
13 | Piatt County Sheriff's Office in Monticello, Illinois, where he | ||||||
14 | was assigned to patrol; in 2012, he transferred to the | ||||||
15 | University of Illinois Police Department in Urbana, Illinois, | ||||||
16 | where he served as a patrol officer until becoming a detective | ||||||
17 | in 2015; he has conducted numerous death investigations as well | ||||||
18 | as several high-profile homicide investigations; therefore, be | ||||||
19 | it
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20 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
21 | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
22 | without Detective Stiverson's skilled interrogation, it is |
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1 | likely this case could have gone unsolved; and be it further
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2 | RESOLVED, That due to Detective Stiverson's work, Yingying | ||||||
3 | Zhang's family at least has the comfort of knowing who was | ||||||
4 | responsible for her devastating murder, and we send our deepest | ||||||
5 | sympathies and condolences to the Zhang family; and be it | ||||||
6 | further
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7 | RESOLVED, That we commend Detective Stiverson for his | ||||||
8 | exemplary work in the murder case of Yingying Zhang and for his | ||||||
9 | service to Champaign County and the entire state of Illinois.
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