Violent husband kicked wife to death after he found texts from another man

A husband has been found guilty of first-degree murder after he repeatedly kicked his wife over texts he found in her phone.

Alan Wang, 61, beat Hongyan Yang, 35, when he discovered the messages from another man. A court heard the attack was so severe Hongyan stopped breathing and a relative of the couple called emergency services.

Hongyan was rushed to hospital in Naperville, Illnois, where she was declared dead. Wang was arrested during a subsequent police investigation and, yesterday, a jury convicted the man of murder. He denied the charge but was found guilty after the four-day trial in Naperville.

An autopsy confirmed Yang died as a result of blunt force trauma from the assault, jurors were told. Family members also gave evidence during the trial, including details about the couple's marriage.

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Wang will be sentenced on Wednesday November 12 at the same court. He had originally been charged with one count of aggravated domestic battery, but these counts were upgraded following Ms Yang's death. She was one of 1,364 women to lose their lives to domestic violence in 2020 in the US alone, damning statistics show.

"Those women are not just a statistic, however, they were mothers, daughters and sisters, each of whom had a full life ahead of them. Their tragic deaths remind us we have a long way to go in preventing domestic violence," Bob Berlin, DuPage County State’s Attorney, said following Wang's conviction.

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He also thanked the Naperville Police Department for "their meticulous and professional investigation into the death of Hongyan Yang," adding the guilty verdict "ensures that Wang will be held responsible for the brutal murder of his wife."

Data just as shocking recently released in the UK shows some 2.3 million people aged 16 and over were victims of domestic abuse (1.6 million women and 712,000 men) in the year ending March 2024. The police recorded 1,350,428 domestic abuse-related crimes and incidents in England and Wales in the year ending March 2024.

Women are more likely to experience repeat victimisation, be physically injured or killed and experience sexual violence. For every three victims, two are female and one is male, the statistics shared by the National Centre for Domestic Violence highlights.

Help is available. Anyone can refer themselves - or others - to services like the National Centre for Domestic Violence for help at anytime. Use the group's website.