Haoyu Wang University of Utah student kills international foreign exchange girlfriend in alleged suicide pact after fatally shooting her up with heroin. Previous domestic violence arrest.
A University of Utah student has admitted killing his teen student girlfriend after shooting her up with a lethal dose of heroin in an alleged suicide pact.
Haoyu Wang, 26, hailing from China, but attending the university as a foreign exchange student was arrested Friday, after the body of his Chinese girlfriend, 19, was found at a Salt Lake hotel. The woman’s identity was not publicly divulged pending notification of her death to family.
Officers were called to the Quality Inn Downtown, 616 S. 200 West, just before 6 a.m. Friday as part of a ‘welfare check investigation.’ Investigators had received information from University of Utah police that a man had made threats to kill his foreign student girlfriend, also attending the college, according to a statement from Salt Lake police.
Wang sent an email to a staff member at the University of Utah that ‘stated that he injected his girlfriend, the victim, with heroin to relieve her from suffering. The email indicated that both would be dead when they were found,’ according to a police booking affidavit cited by Deseret News.
Investigators pinged Wang’s cell phone, which led them to the downtown hotel. Salt Lake police were called to the hotel to assist University police with their investigation.
Intended to inject heroin and die together
At the hotel, police found a 19-year-old woman deceased in a room. The university identified her as an international undergraduate student. Police said the couple had been living together according to KSL.
Wang told police he killed the woman and ‘attempted to kill himself by reportedly injecting himself with drugs,’ police said.
After he was examined at a local hospital, Wang was interviewed by detectives. He told them that he and his girlfriend ‘intended to commit suicide together. He ordered heroin and fentanyl on the darknet. He and the victim both snorted heroin,’ according to the affidavit.
The woman became unresponsive after taking heroin, the affidavit says.
‘Haoyu then injected her with a high dose of heroin with the intent to kill her and relieve her suffering. After injecting the victim, Haoyu said that she died. Haoyu then injected himself with heroin and remained in the room with the victim until police arrived,’ police wrote in the affidavit.
It remained unclear what ‘suffering’ the female student had allegedly been undergoing.
Of note, the woman’s death follows college officers saying that the man had previously threatened the woman. Wang had in January been charged with one count of assault for domestic violence, according to court records cited by The Salt Lake Tribune.
In a statement to the campus community, the university said it was offering help for students and employees through its counseling centers.
‘The death of any young person embarking on adult life is devastating. And unfortunately, domestic violence is more prevalent than many of us are aware, even among college students. On behalf of the university, we extend our heartfelt grief and sympathy to the family, friends and classmates of the victim during this incredibly difficult time,’ the statement said.
