University of Utah admits to 'shortcomings' in domestic violence reporting prior to student's death
On Tuesday, university administrators released documentation and a timeline in their investigation into the death of 19-year-old Zhifan Dong. She was killed by 26-year-old Haoyu Wang on Feb. 11, according to police. Wang allegedly injected Dong with a lethal dose of heroin and fentanyl. He was arrested and charged with murder.
According to a timeline of events included in the review findings, Dong and Wang both lived in on-campus housing and began dating in the fall of 2021. However, they were staying at a motel in downtown Salt Lake City on Jan. 12 when Dong reported that Wang assaulted her. Wang was arrested by Salt Lake City Police, released from jail"within hours," and Dong was issued a temporary protective order.
On Feb. 6, Dong responded to texts from housing staff and said she was OK, and that she said she was handling a family situation and did not need any support. The next day, staff learned that she had not swiped her housing access card since Jan. 28. Police started looking for Dong at downtown hotels based on her cell phone ping location data, but were unable to find her. They showed photos of both Dong and Wang to hotel staff, and none of them recognized either student.
Wang called the administrator back later that day after receiving the email. He said he was upset about being arrested the previous month and about having a reputation as a"domestic abuser." He said he told his parents everything, then asked the administrator to stop calling and said he would not be returning to campus.
“This was not a case of a student asking for help and not receiving it, this is a case of a student sharing some details, the housing staff reacting in certain ways but not reacting how they were trained to react,” said Chris Nelson with the University of Utah.“They did provide a lot of outreach, there was a lot of connecting with these students trying to provide support,” said Nelson. “But again, not enough.
Bailey McGartland, a student who lived in Dong’s college suite, helped Dong reach out to authorities.
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