Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Little Ashley Zhao Found Dead In Chinese Restaurant

Episode Date: January 12, 2017

A day-long search for 5-year-old Ashley Zhao ended with the discovery of the child's body in her parent's Chinese restaurant. Her mother called 911 to report Ashley had wandered away from the North Canton, Ohio, family business. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke discuss the case and what might happen to the accused killer. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Family and concerned residents were outside of Aang's Asian Cuisine, where Ashley Zhao was reported missing, hoping to lend a hand in the search for the young girl. We are the family. We need to help, right? We need to help to find the baby. This is Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Local shops were spreading the word,

putting up missing signs to alert customers. Ashley would always say hello to me when I was going in and out sometimes and stuff. So yeah, it's just a very nice feeling. For hours, law enforcement in the community were searching around the area where five-year-old Ashley was last seen. The whole family tried to contact Ashley's father, which is my nephew. That's King Richard.

The body of a five-year-old girl who had been missing since last night has been found. A beautiful five-year-old little girl is dead, her body hidden in a Chinese restaurant. Just let that soak in for a moment. A five-year-old little girl is dead, and her body has been found concealed, hidden, in a local Chinese restaurant. For this case, we traveled to Jackson Township in Ohio, where a five-year-old little girl, Ashley, went missing. After a quick search by her parents, the mother calls her in as a missing child to the local police. And that starts a desperate search for five-year-old Ashley.

At first, police are working under the theory the little girl had simply wandered away. But it was believed to have occurred around 4.30 on a Monday afternoon there in Jackson Township when they thought the girl had wandered away. The desperate search ensued, including bringing in police canines to find the girl. Was that how she was ultimately discovered, her body concealed in a restaurant? What we do know is that it was Tuesday before her body was found, this five-year-old child's dead body lay hidden in a Chinese restaurant for at least 24 hours before she was found. Now, according to a press release from Jackson Township Police, it was determined that little Ashley Zhao was found dead, concealed inside the building on Tuesday. We now believe we know who police consider as the prime suspects. With me is investigative reporter Alan Duke. Alan, have you seen the picture of little Ashley? She looks like a doll. Absolutely. She is so perfect.

She looks like a doll that you would buy at the store. Her little hair is so perfect and silky and framing her little face. She's got beautiful brown eyes that stare out from under her bangs. Her mother, frantic when she calls 911. Police bring in the FBI in the Ohio BCI to investigate the disappearance and death. As of right now, I don't know exactly where in the Chinese restaurant she was found, but I know it was Aang's Asian Restaurant. Aang's Asian Cuisine. How can you be in a restaurant and not know there's a dead body in there?

When you look at it from the outside, Alan, it's very small. Where are you going to hide a body in this little restaurant? I just don't understand how you hide a body in a Chinese restaurant and it's there for 24 hours and nobody, owners, employees, busboys, and patrons don't know there's a dead body there. I mean, how many people did they serve that day with a dead five-year-old child hidden there?

I don't think it would be possible to hide the body away from the employees or the owners well they did the body was hidden she went missing in monday on monday and the body was not found until the next day tuesday we are talking about five-year-old ashley after a desperate search was launched for her on tuesday in an effort find her, police now say the child was concealed hidden inside Aang's Asian Cuisine restaurant. Now, this is what we believe happened. We believe now the people responsible are in fact the mother Ming Ming Chen. Now reports are that she punched the five-year-old repeatedly, bludgeoning her, beating her, particularly in the head and face. The child falls to the ground. When the father discovers her, she's lying down with a green liquid coming

from her mouth. He tries to clean her face to wash off the liquid, and it's then he realizes she's not breathing. He performs CPR and cannot revive her, but think about it, Alan, even if that is true, he had to go along with the cover-up. It will be argued at trial. I mean, police were called. He stood by when they seen canines to search for her. They're turning everything upside down, trying to find the little girl. What is he doing? Twiddling his thumbs? So if he helped, is he just as liable as she for the death, or is it a much lesser crime? Well, if it's true that he found her body, then he's going to be in for obstruction of justice and conspiracy and of a felony nature

to hide a body and obstruct police. But the mother, you know, people say, why? Why would she do it? I've never seen a single child murder, Alan, where there was a quote motive like revenge or you did it for money. It's just so usually somebody gets mad and kills the child. That's not a motive. That's I got mad and did it. That's not a defense. I'm speechless to hear this as a grandfather. I just cannot imagine.

You know, you and I have covered some pretty, pretty nasty ones. But this one, hiding it in a restaurant where you're serving food. Well, think about it, Alan. Think about it. They call in dogs to scour the wooded area behind the restaurant. Volunteers, locals, police, all helping with the search to find this girl. What were the mom and dad doing? Serving customers? What were they doing while everybody else is looking for their child? And they've got the child hidden in the restaurant. A statewide endangered child advisory had been issued. Everybody's looking for the child.

How would they imagine that they would keep that child concealed even longer? Awful. Another thing, in a way it reminds me of JonBenet. You're looking for the child and she's right there under your nose the whole time. The whole time she was right under their noses. But why would police have a reason to disbelieve the mother who called? She called 911. I'd like to hear that call.

If this ends in a light plea like voluntary manslaughter, 10 years to serve, she'll be out in three years. Once again, a child's life is going to count for less in a court of law than an adult. Like somehow because they're a child, they have, because they're shorter and way less, they have less feelings and endured less pain when they were murdered. I mean, this child was beaten dead with green liquid coming out of her mouth. I mean, I think this should be a death penalty case myself. And I don't want to get all crazy about death penalty good, death penalty

bad. But if you're going to have the death penalty and you beat a child dead and stick her body in your Chinese restaurant, you need the death penalty. If we're going to have the death penalty, then this is the case for it. That's what I would argue. Weigh in. Well, the local authorities, the prosecutor, obviously is like-minded with you, asking for $5 million in bond for both the mom and the dad. Well, they're not getting out on bond, I can tell you that. People want to get

out on bond to either skip town or to be able to work on their defense. Now, 2016 was the second year without any executions in Ohio. That doesn't mean the death penalty does not exist in Ohio. There is capital punishment in Ohio almost everywhere in the country. It's by the needle, death by needle, lethal injection. So there are aggravated circumstances that call for the death penalty.

One, if it's a public figure like the president or a cop. If it was murder for hire. If it was to obstruct police in detection. If the offender was already in jail or in detention, like you commit a murder behind bars. If the perp already had previous offenses essential to the killing, if, let me think right here, what else, if it's during an aggravated robbery, burglary, rape, or arson, you know, like a felony murder, that would count. You could do that here. This could be an aggravating circumstance, Alan, because if this child was beaten during the commission of the crime, that could be an aggravated murder.

That might work. Also, in that jurisdiction, if the victim is under 13 years of age, that's a qualifier for the death penalty in Ohio. So it meets an aggravating circumstance, and I don't want the prosecution to crap out on this. They need at the at the least a life sentence without parole. But it's very unlikely, really, isn't it, Nancy, that they're going to seek the death penalty in this case? I mean, this is a case of parents perhaps getting very, very angry at a child, but not premeditated, did not intend to kill the child. Premeditated, not premeditated, did not intend to kill the child? Premeditated? Not premeditated. Wait a minute. Premeditation under the law can be developed in the twinkling of an eye, the time it takes you to raise a gun and pull the trigger. It does not

require a long thought out plan, such as poisoning over a period of time or hiring a hitman. Okay. The, I got mad and beat my child dead is not a defense and it does not reduce this from murder to voluntary. I'm on this and I'm watching, I am watching these prosecutors. Now I'm not screaming, this has to be the death penalty. But what I am saying is this is a murder and that mother needs to pay the penalty for murder with at least life behind bars at least why is this child's life worth less than somebody else's it's not you know you just rubbed me the wrong way alan you did i was just asking a question nancy yeah you were just asking a question i was just i saying. I'm a parent.

I'm a grandparent. And, you know, kids can try you. And you really have to remember your own strength and be very careful with these general creatures. All that was before the advent of the iPad. Now, you got the iPad, you got the power. Now, whenever my children are naughty, I'm going to take her iPad. They got the iPad. You got the power. Now whenever my children are naughty, I'm going to take her iPad. They immediately fall in step. I mean,

it's just like, I can't believe it. It's worse than time out. And I was against it. I was against Santa when he brought them the iPad. I didn't. I disagreed with Santa giving them the iPads. But Santa did what he thought was best. And boy, it has helped so much. It has helped me so

much. I don't even, you know what, I don't even feel like smiling or laughing as I'm talking about Ashley, but this is what I know. I'm watching this case, Alan, and it's not going to become just a statistic if I have anything to do with it. Everyone, thank you for being with us. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.