Federal prosecutors will officially rest their case Wednesday in the sentencing phase of Brendt Christensen’s trial for kidnapping and killing University of Illinois visiting scholar Yingying Zhang. Government prosecutors spent the second day of the sentencing phase presenting testimony from Zhang’s family and other loved ones, as they tried to prove the aggravating factors that would qualify Christensen for the death penalty.

An FBI forensic expert told jurors that DNA evidence indicates that University of Illinois visiting scholar Yingying Zhang was inside the bedroom of Brendt Christensen, who is accused of killing her.

Jury selection moves into its second day Tuesday at the federal courthouse in Peoria, in the capital murder trial of the man accused in the disappearance of University of Illinois visiting scholar Yingying Zhang.

Jury selection begins Monday in Peoria for Brendt Christensen, the former University of Illinois graduate student accused in the 2017 disapearance and suspected killing of Yingying Zhang of China.

 Lawyers for a former University of Illinois student accused of killing visiting Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang say they are abandoning their mental health defense.