Kindergarten Teacher in China Gets Death Penalty for Poisoning Dozens of Students, Killing 1

Wang Yun received the death sentence at the Jiaozuo City Intermediate People’s Court on Monday, according to CBS News.

The incident happened on March 27, 2019, when Wang put the food additive into the breakfast porridge of her colleague’s students after they had a falling out over “student management issues.” She disagreed with her colleague, Sun Moumou, about how to discipline students, reported USA Today.

Her action resulted in the hospitalization of 25 children, ages 3 to 6, who all vomited and fainted after ingesting the meal. One of the victims of the poisoning became severely ill and died in January of this year after spending 10 months in the hospital.

At the hearing, the court, located in the central Chinese province of Henan, said Wang was aware sodium nitrite was harmful to the body, but she proceeded with her plan. The suspect was described as “despicable and vicious.”

Although sodium nitrite is commonly used for curing meat as well as used as an antidote for cyanide poisoning, the inorganic compound can be lethal if consumed in high dosages.

“The consequences of her crimes were extremely serious, and she deserves to be severely punished,” the court said.

However, last year’s incident was not the first time Wang had used the compound to poison someone. In 2017, the teacher reportedly tried to poison her husband by putting sodium nitrite in his mug and inflicted minor injuries.

The death penalty is set to be carried out either through lethal injection or firing squad.

Feature Image via Andy Falconer