Ammons to Honor University of Illinois Police Officers, Detective for Work in Murder Case of Yingying Zhang

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana, will welcome Sergeant James Carter, Telecommunicator Kenny Costa and Detective Eric Stiverson of the University of Illinois Police Department to the state Capitol Wednesday to honor their exemplary work in the case of murdered university scholar Yingying Zhang.

“In 2017, the entire Champaign-Urbana community was shaken by the disappearance of Yingying Zhang,” said Ammons. “In partnership with other law enforcement agencies and the FBI, campus police worked quickly and meticulously to sift through large amounts of information, not stopping until they found her. Were it not for the individual contributions from Officers Carter and Costa and Detective Stiverson, a successful investigation would not have been possible.”

Yingying Zhang, an environmental engineering scholar from Nanping, a small city in the Fujian province in southeast China, went missing in June of 2017 after getting into a black SUV near the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) campus. After an extensive investigation and search efforts by local, state and federal authorities she was declared dead in the summer of 2017. Three members of campus law enforcement who played critical roles in solving the case will be officially recognized by the Illinois House on Wednesday, as Ammons prepares for the presentation of legislation she introduced honoring the work of Sergeant James Carter, Telecommunicator Kenny Costa and Detective Eric Stiverson.

“It is because of these men’s efforts that Yingying Zhang’s family and the campus community have the comfort of knowing who was responsible for her devastating murder,” said Ammons. “I am pleased to welcome them to Springfield to honor not only their contributions to the investigation in this case, but their service to the state of Illinois.”

The full text of House Resolutions 775, 778 and 779 are available at ilga.gov.