True Crime with Kendall Rae - Ivy League Genius Kevin Jiang Murdered by Fiancé’s Stalker Who Tried To Flee?!

Episode Date: June 12, 2025

On the night of February 6, 2021, 26-year-old grad student Kevin Jiang left his fiancée's apartment in New Haven, CT. After he got into his car, another car crashed into it from behind. Upon getting out of his car to check on the man who hit him, Kevin was fatally shot by the driver. After the shooter got away, the case progressed from a potentially random crime to a manhunt for an armed and dangerous man. Kevin's Youtube Channel: / @kalosthenics    Jennifer Dulos Part 1: From “Perfect” Marriage To Possible Murder...   Jennifer Dulos Part 2: No Body, No Problem: Guilty Verdict Reache...   — This episode is sponsored by: -Rula - Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at https://www.rula.com/tckr #rulapod -Olipop -Hello Fresh -Cash App - Download Cash App Today: https://capl.onelink.me/vFut/4g1zpylb #CashAppPod -Quince Check out my foundation: Higher Hope Foundation: https://www.higherhope.org/ Watch my documentaries: 530 Days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjUWkmOjNLk Apartment 801: https://bit.ly/2RJ9XXr  True Crime with Kendall Rae podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3rks84o Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3jC66pr Shop my Merch! https://kendallrae.shop Check out my other podcasts: Mile Higher (True Crime) @milehigherpod YouTube: https://bit.ly/2ROzJcw Instagram: http://instagram.com/milehigherpod The Sesh (Current events, a little true crime, pop culture, and commentary) https://bit.ly/3Mtoz4X @the_seshpodcast Instagram: https://bit.ly/3a9t6Xr *Follow My Social!* @KendallRaeOnyt Instagram: http://instagram.com/kendallraeonyt Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kar4NK True Crime TikTok: https://bit.ly/3VDbc77 Personal TikTok: https://bit.ly/41hmRKg REQUESTS: General case suggestion form: https://zfrmz.com/yg9cuiWjUe2QY3hSC2V0 Form for people directly related/close to the victim: https://zfrmz.com/HGu2hZso42aHxARt1i67 Join my discord to chat with other viewers about this video, it’s free! https://discord.com/invite/an4stY9BCN C O N T A C T: For Business Inquiries - [e-mail] Send me mail: Kendall Rae 8547 E Arapahoe Rd Ste J #233 Greenwood Village, CO 80112

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of True Crime with Kendall Rae. Thank you so much as always for joining me today. And if you're new to the show, then welcome. I'm so happy to have you here. Okay, guys. So today we're getting into a case that has been hard to even wrap my mind around because it is so ridiculous, completely unnecessary. And as I was researching this case, like as it evolved and I figured out what happened,

which I still don't completely understand why the killer did what they did, I think I have like a decent idea, but they never, you know, truly explained it themselves because I don't know if they even truly knew why, but it is just so completely unnecessary, infuriating and makes no sense. I'm gonna be telling you about the cold blooded murder of Kevin Jung. And as I was looking into Kevin and who he was, I like him so much. Obviously,

I've never met him, but he had a YouTube channel. And that's always a weird thing, you know, in today's day and age, because I feel I'm sure so many of you can relate to sort of forming like parasocial relationships with people online, like maybe it's on TikTok or like a favorite YouTuber where you feel like you kind of get to know someone. And in a lot of the cases I cover, I don't really get to see video of victims that I speak about, but now more often

there are victims I speak about that have a social presence, have YouTube channels or TikTok accounts. And it just, I don't know, getting to see them in that way and see them as they were in life and thriving makes these cases so much more difficult to cover. But at the same time, makes me feel like weirdly connected. I don't know how I hope that doesn't sound weird, but I really really like Kevin a lot and I just can't wrap my head around how this happened. It's Infuriating and Kevin was an Ivy League student. He was very very driven in life

Extremely kind from everything I've learned about him. He was someone who truly only wanted the best for others He was positive. He was him. He was someone who truly only wanted the best for others. He was positive. He was kind. He was unbelievably smart, too. So Kevin was actually born on Valentine's Day in 1994, and he was an only child to his parents, Linda and Ming Chen. And it's been said that Linda raised him as a single mother, primarily in the Chicago area. Now, Kevin was a very religious person and it seemed to really shape who he was and shape his life in a lot of ways and the relationships in his life as well.

And in the words of his youth pastor, as a teenager, I guess Kevin was quite a handful. Like a lot of young kids, he had areas where he sort of struggled, but I guess through church and through his relationship with God, he became someone that a lot of others aspire to be. He was honest, kind, intentional, thoughtful, and really led his life in service to God, according to those who knew him. Kevin seemed to really be someone that a lot of people

looked up to. And one of the things that I really appreciated about Kevin, you know, just from learning about him is the love that he had for the environment. Kevin wanted to make the world a better place for everyone and all creatures. And in order to do that, he ended up focusing his education around environmental studies. He first studied at North Seattle College and then went to the University of Washington where he graduated magna cum laude and with a degree in biology. Now if that's not impressive enough, he then got accepted into Yale's School of Environment where in 2019 he started working towards getting his master's in environmental

sciences. Now he was particularly interested in studying the mercury levels in fish in the Quinnipiac River which is something that he was actively researching. He also helped manufacturing companies comply with local and federal laws, distributed food at a local homeless shelter, mentored young people, and to top it off, he was a long-standing member of the Army National Guard. So quite the resume, right?

Kevin was super, super impressive, and being a member of the army was a really big part of Kevin's life and his identity and it's something that he was rightfully very proud of. He was someone who really valued self-improvement and I think that through the church and through his service, this is something he managed to do a lot of. And another area that he really worked on bettering himself was fitness, it seemed to be a huge passion of his. And like I mentioned earlier, he did have a YouTube channel. I wanna link it below.

I've checked out a bunch of his videos now. They're everything from fitness to also a little bit of nutrition. And I actually did one of his videos for stretching the lower back to deal with back pain because I've actually been having a bit of back pain myself probably due to really bad form when I lift is my guess, but his videos are great.

And so I wanted to link his channel in case any of you, you know, wanna use them. So I have been in therapy on and off throughout my entire life, starting from when I was a child. And therapy has been there for me through some of the hardest times of my life, like when I have lost family members or when my parents got divorced. But after I had my daughter, I was struggling so bad with postpartum depression and anxiety as well. And I didn't want to actually have to leave the house.

So that's when I first started doing online therapy, virtual therapy, and now that's my preferred method. I actually do go see my therapist in person as well when I can, but I love doing therapy online because I can just do it straight up in the comfort of my bed. But it can be really hard to find a therapist online who actually takes your insurance and is going to be a good fit for you.

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therapy that's actually covered by insurance. Visit RULA.com slash TCKR to get started. And after you sign up, you'll be asked how you heard about them. Please support my show and let them know that I sent you. That's RULA, R U L A dot com slash TCKR. You deserve mental health care that works with you, not against your budget. You deserve mental health care that works with you, not against your budget. He had this fitness with Kevin business where he helped coach people along their own journey. What's up guys? Welcome to another episode of fitness with Kevin.

I'm Kevin. Today I'm going to show you how you can fix lower back pain. Alright, so the first stretch I'm going to show you is called the single leg over. So you're going to put your hand over here on the bend of your knee and you can lay your head down on the ground. I'll show you from the side too. But you're going to go like this. Raise your leg, put your knee here, put your shoulder on the ground. Try to make sure that your shoulder doesn't come off the ground when you're doing this.

Just get up and stretch. Do these lower back exercises. It'll really help you from experiencing that pain. And yeah, if you like this video, please remember to subscribe. Check out my Facebook page. Thank you so much. See you next time. Peace.

And yeah, that channel that he had is full of really great workout videos and you can just see his personality and passion shine through in these. But he also has a few other videos that point to some of his other interests. Kevin loved to play the piano and to sing and he was very, very good. It's really quite beautiful to see. And then another thing that I love about Kevin is how much he loved his mom. I think that says so much about a man and the way that he cared for his mom is so beautiful. There's actually another video posted to his YouTube channel with his mom and I wanted to share that as well. It's sort of a birthday vlog tribute type kind of video, which I mentioned because his mom was one of, if not the most important person in his

life and that was very clear. She had truly sacrificed everything for him and there wasn't a day in his life where he didn't appreciate her for all of that. So much so that when he went to Yale, he actually bought a house there and invited his mom, who was living back in Seattle at the time, to come and move in with him. It was his dream to be able to look after her the way that she'd always looked after him. And yeah, I just really feel like this tells you

everything you need to know about the type of man that Kevin was. He was selfless, he was authentic, he was incredibly enthusiastic, and he always made people feel welcome and at ease. So when you take all of that, plus the brains, plus the fact that he's very handsome, Kevin was quite a catch, right?

And in early 2020, he ended up meeting a girl who shared all of his same values and seemed to be the perfect match for him. Her name is Zion Perry, and when the two of them met, she was an undergrad student at MIT studying molecular biophysics and biochemistry. Which are things that I probably couldn't even explain to you what they were if I tried because I am not on the intelligence level of these two at all.

But yeah, she is very, very, very smart. She was also very religious, just like Kevin. And another thing that they really had in common is they both really enjoyed spending time outdoors. And the story of how they met is really sweet actually. They were both at this Christian retreat and Zion at first I guess wasn't even sure if she wanted to go but some friends of hers thought it would be good for her so she went ahead and went and that's where Kevin was too. And on the third day of the retreat, they were seated adjacent to one another. And I guess at this retreat,

everyone was asked to pray for the person next to them. And so they were praying for each other and they pretty soon became friends. Seemed like it was kind of meant to be. But anyways, they ended up seeing each other again at another retreat in February. And one more time when Zion went to Yale for a PhD program interview.

Now, during all of this time, they were just friends, but by May of that year, after talking on the phone for so many weeks and just having so much in common, they decided to give the long distance thing a chance. So for several months, he was living in New Haven, Connecticut, and she was living back home in Pennsylvania, finishing her senior year remotely because of the pandemic. And when he would go and visit her, they almost always did some type of outdoor activity,

whether that was hiking, fishing, gardening, you name it. They just loved being outside and seeing the beauty that this world has to offer. And they also loved playing music together with Kevin on the piano and Zion on the flute. So from everything you're hearing, I'm sure you agree with me that these two really seem to be meant for each other. So Kevin was beyond excited when she told him that she was coming to Yale for her PhD. I guess she had also been considering a school in California, so the fact that she ended up choosing Yale and could be with him was very, very exciting

for the two of them because now they wouldn't have to do long distance anymore, which can be a challenge. I'm sure anyone out there who's done long distance knows it is not easy. Granted though, Kevin did have to go to Texas for a few weeks for an army related training, but once he was back, they were really starting to settle into their new routine.

And on January 30th, 2021, exactly one year from the day that they met, Kevin proposed to Zion while they were out hiking. His friends say that you can just tell how deeply in love with Zion he was. I mean, it practically radiated out of him, even in the video of their proposal, which I'm not sure if I'm able to play.

I will put it in if I can. I think it might be copyrighted, which is strange, but it is so cute, especially at the end when he reaches out to give her this big hug. And you can just tell he's so happy and she's like very clearly surprised, but also really happy. And God, it's just, they had no idea

what was gonna happen very shortly after they got engaged because little did either of them know their engagement would only last a week because on February 6th Kevin was shot and killed now in order for all of this to make sense I need to rewind a little bit here to December of 2020, because that's when multiple shootings were starting to take place. Between December 11th and February 6th, there were four separate shooting incidents

in the New Haven area. Now, luckily, no one was actually hit during any of these, which is amazing, but there certainly were some close calls. It turns out that some crazy person was just driving around and shooting into the sides of different homes. And they were homes that people were inside of.

And the police were able to link them because the same 45 caliber shell casings were found at each of the scenes. So over the last couple of years, I have been on a health and wellness journey. Now I'm feeling better than ever. I've lost a lot of weight and one of the biggest things, the hardest things for me to give up was real soda,

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It's sold online, you can get it on Amazon, and it's also available in almost 50,000 retailers nationwide including Costco, Walmart, Target, Publix, Whole Foods, Kroger, and HEB. And in the last two incidents, there were similar reports that the driver was in a dark-colored SUV. And to clarify, Kevin's shooting wasn't the fourth, his was the fifth. But they did happen the exact same day and only an hour apart. However, the fifth, Kevin's, was much more severe. At 8.33 p.m., 911 was called by several witnesses who had overheard the sound of gunshots,

and when emergency services arrived, Kevin was found completely unresponsive in the middle of the street. And at first, just by the way that it looked, police thought that this may have been a wrong place, wrong time, possible road rage incident. And that's because about a hundred feet from Kevin's body, they found his Prius parked in the middle of the street with its hazard lights on.

And they also noticed slight damage to the rear bumper. And it was hard to see, but there was sort of like an imprint from what looked like another car's license plate holder. So their thinking at first is that he got into some type of fender bender and was shot by whoever the person was. And they were able to confirm part of this theory somewhat true after they canvassed the neighborhood.

And it turns out that there were two witnesses that actually saw what happened or at least like parts of it and then the stories that they were telling matched what was seen on a neighbor's security camera and Unfortunately, the quality isn't great because the camera was inside the house and it pointed out the window So there's a pretty big reflection. You can see things inside the home, but you can actually see what's going on on the street as well, see both cars and exactly how it plays out, and you can hear everything, so it was still incredibly useful. But basically, the detectives could see that Kevin's car was in fact rear-ended by this dark-colored SUV.

And then Kevin can be seen putting on his hazards and exiting his car to approach the driver of the other vehicle. And knowing how kind Kevin was, I'm sure he really did think that it was an accident. He was probably approaching their car to possibly even see if they were okay and to get insurance information or something like that. But in the footage, the SUV had backed out of the frame I mean, it's covered by a wall basically the wall of the house but you can hear the sound of two gunshots and then screaming and it's

It's very disturbing Followed by six gunshots and this actually was posted I don't want to put it in this episode because like I said it's very disturbing and I wouldn't want someone in his family to see this. If you do want to see it for yourself it is available online. There's a 48 hours episode where they do play it so if you want to see it there you can. But what was different from their original theory is this was no road rage incident. This was personal. And they believe that after seeing how many times Kevin was shot and the fact that it

was done at such close range. Apparently two witnesses say they ran to their windows after they heard what was going on and they saw the shooter standing over who they now know was Kevin. And that stance alone is super personal. Standing over someone like that after you have executed them. But what was tricky though right off the bat is the detectives felt like this had to have been connected

to the other four shootings, but they weren't quite sure how. All they knew is that they had found the same 45 caliber shell casings and that the shooter was in a dark colored SUV. But no one had died in any of those previous shootings. And of course it's possible that the killer had intended for people to be shot, but just missed.

But it was odd that just on this final shooting, suddenly there is a homicide here that they're dealing with and it just didn't make a whole lot of sense. And they were hoping as they started to interview people that maybe things would start clicking into place. But to make matters even more difficult, when detectives went in and spoke with people who lived in the houses involved in those other shootings, none of them knew Kevin. So there was no obvious connection there, which made this all pretty confusing right

off the bat. And Kevin's mom, oh my God, it's just horrendous to think about. She got the news really late at night, and she had to be the most confused of all. When officers went and knocked on her door to let them know what happened to her son, she was absolutely beside herself with grief. She fell to the ground crying and couldn't offer any explanation as to why anyone would want Kevin dead. Linda talked to them about her son,

and I mean, you guys heard it. Kevin just was not someone who would have gotten caught up in anything shady. I mean, this made no sense to anybody. She also told them about his new fiance, Zion, who they had already talked to as well that night. And she was actually able to provide a bit more context to that entire day. So Zion explained that earlier in the day, the two of them had gone ice fishing and then

they went back and made dinner at her apartment. Kevin also went grocery shopping with her and the night ended on totally normal terms. And it does make me happy thinking that he got to spend his last day with her. And it sounds like it was a wonderful day. You know, he was outside in nature and cooking together and I'm just glad that he got to be with the love of his life in the end like that.

But this is so heartbreaking, okay? So the shooting actually only happened like two blocks from her house. And she was so close to it that she actually heard the gunshots go off, but she didn't think it had anything to do with Kevin. She kind of, her sense of time sort of was off that night. She thought that he had left a lot earlier than he did.

She thought maybe he had left like five to 10 minutes prior, which would have put him too far away to be involved. So to her, it just didn't even cross her mind that the shooting would have anything to do with him. And like Linda, she also couldn't think of anyone who would want to hurt him. So yeah, of course, that first night ended with a lot more questions than answers.

And even though it hadn't been that long, word definitely started to spread quickly about what had happened. One friend had actually texted him after she heard what happened, just saying something along the lines of, please respond, please answer your text, because she just couldn't accept that this was real,

that Kevin was gone. But this was very real. And the only thing people wanted to know now is who did it and why, why would anyone wanna do this to Kevin? Well, luckily it was only 15 hours later that they ended up catching a major break because it turns out that 30 minutes after Kevin was killed, a security guard in the neighboring town of North Haven

called 911 from a local scrap metal yard about a suspicious dark colored SUV that drove through the yard and got stuck on the snowy train tracks. And while this was weird, I guess it also wasn't that uncommon. I guess people, especially teens, would sneak in there or just random people of any age would get lost back there looking for the highway. I guess this was something that happened quite often. And that's exactly what this driver of the SUV said, that he was lost trying to find his way back

to Massachusetts. And they believed him because for one, he did not look nervous or suspicious. I mean, not at all. I've seen the footage of it. He seemed calm as a cucumber. And two, when they ran his driver's license, it came back totally clean. Now, the driver was 29-year-old Xin-Xuan Pan.

And off the bat, I just want to mention that I've heard at least three different ways to pronounce his first name. So that's just my best interpretation. I could be wrong, and I certainly apologize if I am. But most people in the coverage that I've seen on this case just refer to him as Pawn, his last name, so I'm just going to do that. HelloFresh makes it easier to fit quick, home-cooked meals into your schedule every week by curating delicious recipes like pasta primavera, chicken dijonan, and pecan crusted trout, as well as over 100 seasonal snacks, sides, and

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New subscribers only. Varies by plan. But anyways, what's interesting here is that even though his driver's license did come up clean, the license plate to the car that he was driving didn't. It came up as lost or stolen. And despite saying that the car was a rental, he wasn't able to provide any kind of documentation or explain why it would appear lost or stolen.

And I will say the reporting here is not very clear. It's a little confusing, but I don't believe that this was viewed with much concern, at least not in the moment. The officer basically was like, why don't we just get you a hotel for the night? We'll get the car towed, and then we can sort of sort this out in the morning. And at first, Pond did say that he preferred

to get it off the tracks himself, but he ultimately agreed that a tow truck could come and get it. And he rode with the tow truck driver to the hotel. And what's interesting is the driver later told police that when he dropped him off at the Best Western, Pond was adamant that he needed to get some items out of the rental. He even jumped onto the flatbed, which the driver had to yell at him multiple times to get down, even grabbing him by the shirt so he would get off.

Eventually, the driver agreed to retrieve the items himself, four-pon, and that included a computer bag, a backpack, a jacket, and a blue bag. And if you're wondering why police didn't question him more, I guess apparently the officers in North Haven hadn't heard of the news that had just taken place in New Haven, at least according to some sources. And by news, I mean the shooting. But I'm not completely sure about that because there are sources that say that they knew that a shooting had taken place, but they were just misinformed on the suspect.

These sources say that the officers in New Haven were told to be on the lookout for two suspects, one of whom was a black male, which doesn't fit the description of pun. But in my opinion, this seems like a bit of a failure. I understand where they were coming from. I've seen interviews with them that he just seemed like nothing was going on. I mean, he seemed very, very chill. And they, I mean, they did look in his car and they saw some bags and things that they didn't look into. Um, which we'll get back

to that in a minute, but it's frustrating thinking that they may not have known that this was a homicide and they should have since it was in literally the neighboring town. But if they did know, I think they definitely should have taken some more time to question Pond even more. Especially because let me remind you, the plates on his car came up as lost or stolen. But he was free to go and so to their knowledge, he checked in at the Best Western Hotel.

And they learned later that next morning that he never actually stayed there though. Get this, okay? So around 11 a.m. on the 7th, that same North Haven police officer was called to an Arby's because an employee found a blue bag containing a gun and several boxes of ammunition. The bag was out by the dumpster where they also found seven firearm magazines, a briefcase, a pair of black sketchers, a gray knit winter hat with a Metro PCS logo on it, a GMC Terrain Owner's Manual, a pair of lug nuts, a yellow jacket, gray sweatpants, a blue plastic bag labeled City of Malden, Massachusetts, three license plates, and scissors.

And many of those items, as I mentioned earlier, were seen by the officers the night before in his car. And there's actually footage of it. Specifically, the blue bag with that Malden, Massachusetts logo on it, also the hat with the Metro PCS logo on it, that yellow jacket, and the briefcase. Not to mention, they also remembered that on Pond's ID, that he was from Malden. So now the light bulbs were starting to go off, and the officer who, you know, got everything from the Arby's was realizing right away, I have seen these things in that car that I pulled over the other night.

And by this point, they are all aware that a murder had taken place last night, right before they talked upon. And their first thought was, oh shit, maybe he is our guy and we let him get away. And they were even more confident about that because the ammunition in those bags was.45 caliber. The same kind used to kill Kevin, the same kind that was

shot into all those different homes. And so a group of officers went over to the Best Western, which just happened to be across the street from the Arby's and they wanted to see if he was still there. And as you probably could have guessed, he was long gone. He's nowhere to be found. So they ended up sending a few officers up to Malden where they believe that he was living with his parents, but once again, he's nowhere to be found. And at first, investigators were actually worried that maybe he had done something to his parents as well, but as you'll hear me say,

this is the opposite of what happened actually. So their next step here is figuring out who this guy is and how he might be connected. And here's where things start to get crazy. When they went through his Facebook, they learned that he was a graduate student at MIT and that he was mutual friends with Zion. And when investigators spoke with her, she confirmed that she did know him from MIT. They had met in 2019, but they were not close by any stretch. They were more like acquaintances than anything. There was never like a real friendship, but she did say that she had gotten the sense that he may have been interested in her, but it was never the other way around. And I guess he had reached out to her in May of 2020 after she graduated to congratulate

her and he had asked her to FaceTime. And understandably, she politely declined. I mean, it's not like she knew him very well, and I certainly wouldn't want to get on a random FaceTime call with someone I was only acquainted with. But of course, as investigators are asking her questions about Pond, she's really confused. And eventually they tell her that he is a person of interest in Kevin's murder. She was shocked. I mean, totally confused.

This was someone that she had only met on a few school-related occasions, and it had been nine months since their last contact. He didn't even know Kevin personally, so she could not comprehend why he would want Kevin dead. And at that point, investigators are really starting to build a theory. It started to look like maybe Pond was secretly obsessed with Zion

and that he needed to get Kevin out of the way, that it was all because of jealousy. And realistically, that's kind of the only thing that makes sense at this point, right? Here's what's interesting though. So we know that just a week before Kevin was killed, as a reminder, he and Zion posted on Facebook about getting engaged, which you probably assume could be a trigger for someone like Pond, who could have been secretly obsessed with Zion, and maybe to a degree it was. But think about it, those random shootings started happening back in December, several

weeks before Kevin even proposed. And so at that point investigators are thinking, you know, maybe he had planned this for quite some time before he even knew that the two of them were engaged. So their theory was shaping into this at this point in time. That maybe Pond was shooting into those houses because he wanted it to look like Kevin's murder was just part of a string of random shootings. But of course knowing his connection to Zion it was hard to believe that there was anything

random about the fact that he had chosen to kill Kevin. But the only tricky thing was that the gun they found at Arby's was actually not a match to the murder weapon. And the actual murder weapon has never been recovered to this day, but it didn't necessarily change anything about their theory, it's just something you should know. And another thing that you should know has to do with that dark-colored SUV. Turns out, big shocker here, it was in fact stolen.

Investigators learned that Pond actually had quite a habit of going into car dealerships in Massachusetts and specifically asking to test drive GMC terrains. He would tell the dealerships that he wanted to get the cars inspected so he'd be gone for a while and it turns out that the dates he did that lined up perfectly with all of these shootings. And on the night Kevin died, he had swapped out the license plate, hence why it came up as lost or stolen. And the car itself was reported stolen by the dealership.

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Once again guys, quince.com slash tckr. But before I get into all of that and the manhunt, I wanted to share a little bit more about Kevin's funeral, which was, as you can imagine, incredibly emotional, but also very beautiful. Now, first there was a candlelight vigil where over 700 people joined to listen to the impact that he made in his almost 27 years of life. Zion talked about seeing him again in heaven, and his mom talked about the joy that he brought to their lives. And when his dad spoke, oh my god,

it just ripped my heart out. He could barely say much at all through his tears, but he reminded everyone of how nice his son was and how much people loved him. And then later in the week, an in-person funeral was held and Kevin was laid to rest at the state veteran cemetery where he was buried with military honors. I actually found a clip from the service and I wanted to play some of what his parents said because it's just too beautiful not to share.

Kevin was my beloved only child. Last Saturday evening when the police told me he was shot, my first reaction was this cannot be real. Kevin lived full-heartedly, enthusiastically, like a ray of sunlight. He gave so much joy and happiness to me and to the people around us. Our home was often filled with the sound of his playing piano. I could not believe that a life full of so much energy and light could vanish from before my eyes. Kevin loved life and had a wide range of interests. He loved animals, music, and dance, as well as gymnastic, swimming, hiking, and photography.

Kevin's life was short but colorful and brought so much joy, happiness, and positivity to the people around him. Kevin was very caring, thoughtful, and attentive to me. He invited me to live with him in Connecticut and always reassured me by saying, Mom, I will take care of you. Don't worry. As a mother, I will always miss Kevin and treasure the blessings he brought me. Although Kevin is gone from us now, Kevin is the most wonderful gift God has ever given me on earth.

I look forward to be reunited with Kevin in heaven in the future. To my beloved son, as a devoted Christian, you are a faithful servant of Jesus. As a matured son, you took kind care of your family. Your heart is full of love. Your smile is always warming and charming. You are naturally unboarded and honest, my dear. You said that heaven is peaceful.

You wish it. That would be our future home. Where are you in heaven now? We will look for you with the rest of our life and we'll stay with you. Thank you. I also wanted to play this clip of Zion speaking, so take a listen. I want to start with a poem Kevin wrote me because I think it helped show the kind of man Kevin truly was.

To my beloved Zion. Zion, oh my love, you are my angel from above. If this world falls apart, it will be alright because we have each other's hearts. You lead me closer to God and make me strong and forgive me of all my wrongs. You're the answer to my prayers and pleas. With you I feel loved, respected, and at ease. I support you through and through in no matter what you do. May God continue to bless our friendship day by day and I'll always

be there for you every step of the way." Like many others have told me, I do believe that Kevin is in his Heavenly Father's arms, gazing now at the sea of glass. Kevin's face always looked so calm and peaceful when he closed his eyes to pray or take a nap. So that was a small glimpse of how peaceful and calm his face must be now. I believe Kevin is worshiping with the angels and all the saints that have gone before him. Kevin worshiped in spirit and truth on the piano. So that was a small glimpse of how beautiful his music must sound now. I can't wait to see my beloved sweetheart in his glorified body. So that was a small glimpse of how beautiful his music must sound now.

I can't wait to see my beloved sweetheart in his glorified body. 2020 was my year of blessings because I met my dear Kevin. I will always love him with the love of Christ. Wo ai ni jiang kai wen. And then something I also thought was very beautiful was the fact that in the wake of his death, New Haven police officers went door to door to check on the residents and see how they were doing in the wake of this tragedy. Which we almost never see anything like this and I think it's really, really important and special and something that more police departments should be doing. So,

hats off to them for sure. Because even if these people didn't know Kevin directly, his death was still painful for everyone and shocking, especially paired with all these other shootings. And everyone, and I really mean everyone, wanted to see that justice was served, which did come, but not easily. So getting back to the search, okay? On February 10th, Pond was announced as a person of interest in Kevin's murder, and

there was actually a warrant out for his arrest at this point. But it wasn't for murder, it was actually for possessing a stolen vehicle. Although if I'm being honest, I'm sure most of you agree, I think they were very confident that he was their guy for Kevin's murder as well and just were looking to bring him in on anything they could. And I think they knew it wasn't going to be easy. One thing you got to know about Pond is he is genius level smart. He was studying AI at MIT and he knew his way around technology.

Luckily though, the US Marshals got involved really quickly and they were utilizing all their resources to try and track his ass down. And here's what they learned. So for starters, they figured out that he had been using at least three cell phones, which he had been using when it came to test driving those cars. And one of those phones he actually used to contact his parents not too long after he had killed Kevin. And while we don't know exactly what he told them, we know that shortly after that call,

they made a $1,000 cash withdrawal. And this was especially concerning because after investigators dug more into his family, they could see that he came from a good deal of wealth. Not to mention they had assets in Shanghai, so if he wanted to get out of the country, he possibly could. Thankfully though, that didn't happen. And I will say, and I guess this is in my opinion, but it's the opinion of many. I think his parents did appear to know more than they were letting on. So basically by this point, which is only a few days after the murder, there was a nationwide manhunt

going on for Pond. At one point, they thought he was in North Carolina because one of his phones pinged there, but when they got there, they found it smashed on the ground. Then they thought he was near Atlanta, Georgia because on February 11th, his parents were pulled over in that area by police, but unfortunately, they were there alone. And what's interesting is how the two of them appeared to react to all of this. When they were told that their son was a person of interest in a murder case, neither of them looked shocked at all.

You would think that if police sat you down and told you that we suspect your son may have killed somebody in cold blood, that you would have at least a little bit of shock But not at all from these people and in fact his dad had quite an interesting story He said that he did talk to his son recently and that he had called him from Connecticut looking for help And he didn't specify why According to him so keep that in mind, but he asked them to bring him cash and they did. They also let him drive their car with them in it south towards Georgia. And at some point I guess he just pulled over, got out of the car, and walked away.

And apparently they didn't ask him any questions, they just let him go. And I just don't buy that at all. And of course police also thought that this was strange. I don't think they were buying it at all either. So they wanted to know more and they asked his parents to come back in and have a little bit more of a chat see. And they did agree to come into the station,

but his mom declined to talk without an attorney. And all that she was willing to say was that her son probably just took his own life, which is something that you would think a parent would be far more concerned about if it were true. But the thing is, investigators just had a feeling that they were the type of parents who would be willing to do anything to protect their son, even if it meant going to jail for him.

They wanted the police to just accept the story of, yeah, he probably killed himself, he's gone, you know, don't worry about it. It's like essentially what they were trying to say. And I do have to say that a lot of that is my opinion and what I'm interpreting things as, but I know investigators were feeling the same. So I think right off the bat, they knew that it was not going to be easy to work with them, that it was not going to be easy to get information out of them, and that they, you know, at the end of the day just wanted to protect their son even if it was wrong. And there's no proof that they knew. I mean, I'll explain exactly how things shook out with them. So a lot of this, again, is just in my opinion. So for the next few weeks, they kept

tabs on them, thinking that they would lead them to their son. And there were several things over the following weeks that caught the investigators attention, including the thousands of dollars that they were withdrawing from their bank account. Okay, so big red flag there, right? It was something like $10,000, which considering they had the resources to get their son out of the country, this was highly concerning. They also rented a car at one point and started driving back down south, but here's what's also wild. Even though the literal US Marshals were tracking them, the GPS on the rental car went dark. And this was actually assigned to them that Pond was in contact with his parents because they knew that he was capable of disabling GPS.

Then there was another time where they caught his dad at a mall in Georgia buying a computer. He appeared on the store's security footage wearing a mask as he made the purchase. And they actually think Pond may have been with him because someone matching his description entered the store shortly after he did. Which again sort of confirmed their belief that maybe he was alive and he didn't take his life like his parents had suggested. But of course, that's what they wanted investigators to think. But then two more months went by with nothing. And at that point, people in the community,

people in Kevin's life, were rightfully worried that Kevin was never going to get justice. Even with a $10,000 reward, nothing seemed to come of it. And by this point in time, it's important to note that the warrant for his arrest was in fact for murder. After they swabbed that car that he stole, they discovered traces of Kevin's blood on the gear shifter. They also confirmed that the license plate holder was a match to the mark left on Kevin's Pri on the gear shifter. They also confirmed that the license plate holder was a match to the mark left on Kevin's Prius from the fender bender. So at this point, it's pretty hard to deny

that he was clearly involved. They just needed to find him. And thankfully by May, they did exactly that. On May 4th, his parents took their third road trip down south, but this time they weren't alone. They were with another couple actually, which investigators believe was strategic. They think that it was his parents trying to make it look like they were just on this normal couple's trip and that they really weren't going down there to see their son, which obviously they

were. So they were placed under surveillance at a hotel in North Carolina, and at one point during the night, his mom came down to the lobby and asked to use the hotel clerk's phone. They ended up capturing this picture of her talking on the phone, which ended up being super important to the case. Basically, investigators suspected, what I'm sure you're suspecting too, that she was talking to her son. And she was. She did try and was successful in deleting the number off of the clerk's phone, but investigators were obviously able to still figure out who she had called. And on May 14th, they tracked that phone to a boarding house near Alabama State University,

which is where they finally successfully recovered Pohn. Apparently when they knocked on the door, he just came out right away and told him that he was the guy they were looking for. I think at that point he just knew that there was no way out of this, and I'm sure, I don't know. I wonder where his mindset was at by this point,

if he just, you know, the guilt of it all was catching up to him, did he really feel bad or was it just too exhausting and draining to be on the run and he just eventually realized, okay, I'm not going to be able to keep up with this and my genius plan didn't really play out the way. I mean, he thought he was going to be able to trick them by doing all these other shootings and clearly he is not as smart as he thought he was going to be able to trick them by doing all these other shootings and clearly he is not as smart as he thought he was and I think he had figured it out at this point and I

do wonder if maybe the guilt was starting to really get to him. But in his room they ended up finding $19,000 in cash, seven phones, seven SIM cards, a computer, and also his dad's passport, all of which would suggest that he may have been trying to leave the country. Thankfully though, he didn't get the chance. And I do wonder if that really was the case and they didn't make it to him and find him at that moment. Would he have actually left? Was he ready for the jig to be up? I don't know.

He is such a big question mark for me. He's hard to read in a lot of ways. But anyway, after he was arrested, Pond was brought back to Connecticut where he was held on a 20 million dollar bond on charges of murder and second degree larceny. And as they always do, of course, he and his attorney tried to have that bond reduce and it was unsuccessful. And I thought this was a pretty interesting fact, so this process all went down pretty slowly because of the pandemic, and at some point he ended up getting a new attorney,

actually. And this just so happened to be the same guy who represented Fotis Doulos in the Jennifer Doulos murder case. Now I've covered that case extensively, it is still one that crosses my mind very often. I think I've done a couple of episodes on it. If you're not familiar with it and you're interested, I'll have it linked below. But yeah, I thought that was a crazy connection. But anyways, Pan was fully planning on pleading not guilty, and he stuck with that for quite

a while. But ultimately, in February of 2024, he did change his plea to guilty. Which considering the evidence against him, it's pretty stupid that he even tried to plead not guilty to begin with, but people do all the time. Now I've already told you that Kevin's blood was on the gear shifter of the car that he was driving. But they also found Pond's DNA on the gun and the ammo outside of that Arby's. Although, just a reminder here, remember that gun was not the actual murder weapon,

but either way though, he is linked to a lot of evidence that really just could not be disputed. So, he pleaded guilty and that meant he was able to take a deal where he would only have to serve 35 years in prison. His sentencing took place in April of 2024 and that day several people read victim impact statements including his parents. Kevin's dad said in part, he was a true victim here. My son was a remarkable young man who cherished life and held deep belief in God. He had a bright future ahead, one that promised to spread God's love far and wide.

Now his mom had a friend read her impact statement for her, but she ended up deciding to say a few words herself actually. And she touched on the very sad truth that 35 years is not a long enough sentence. And I think most of you will agree with that. I mean, I certainly do. and obviously that's the downside of taking a guilty plea. He'll be 65 years old when he's released and while that's older, it's not necessarily old old, you know, I mean, there's still a lot of life left to live potentially and when you think about how much life he took away from Kevin, it doesn't

seem fair at all. In fact, it's infuriating to think about. And as much as we can hope that he's reformed in prison, I can absolutely understand and see why Kevin's loved ones are concerned for the day that he's let out. And Zion spoke too, and she addressed him directly, which was very brave, I think. And this is so eerie, Pan he's such a creep to me but the whole time he was too much of a bitch to make eye contact with anyone. But as soon as Zion started speaking he instantly looked up at her. It really took

until that moment which I think says so much about why he did this. I mean, they were never able to confirm his motive, why he did it and if it was because of Zion. Seems incredibly obvious though. I mean, that connection is the only thing that makes sense, right? But the fact that he popped his little stupid head up as soon as she started talking says it all. But she talked about what an honor it was to know Kevin, a man that she said was filled with valor and honor and who would have made a wonderful husband

and father. And the idea that she has to miss out on all that for nothing because some lunatic that she used to know was clearly so obsessed with her that he couldn't even imagine another man being with her. When they never have I have to just remind you once again, they never had a relationship, a friendship, they were acquaintances, and she hadn't seen him or spoken to him in a very long time. And then Pond himself spoke, which was interesting, we don't always get to see that.

But again, he never truly explained why he killed Kevin. But he did say that he was sorry for what his actions caused and accepts the consequences of those actions. Now does he actually mean that? I don't know. You'll have to be the judge of that. If I'm telling you my opinion, I really don't think he does. I did not get a good sense of remorse there. I think he just said what he thought would be helpful to hear. I don't know. I don't know. I just truly don't think he has any remorse.

I think something is deeply, deeply wrong with Pond. And like I said, I do fully agree with Kevin's mom that 35 years just isn't enough. It's very, very frustrating. And Kevin has lost far more than 35 years and the fact that he won't ever get to Walk free the way that his killer will is infuriating now Kevin's friends say that he was the kind of person who would have forgiven pond for what he did And I think that's a huge testament to his character and just by you know What I know about him what I've learned about him and watching a bunch of his videos online,

he seems like the type that would be able to find it in his heart to forgive his own killer because he was that amazing of a person, that deep and thoughtful and kind. And God, just what a massive unnecessary loss. It's heartbreaking. And at the end of the day, it just feels so confusing because I'd be really curious to know more about this obsession that Pond clearly had with Zion because it doesn't sound like

there's been a lot of, I mean, there hasn't been a lot of information released on that. I don't think there is a lot to be known. I don't know how much they were able to get out of him. I don't know if he was ever honest about it. But when you think about it, I mean, he had to have been pretty obsessed to have done what he did. And what's also so crazy to me is if you think about it, if Pond hadn't gotten stuck on those train tracks in the junkyard, I don't know if he would have been caught.

I mean, he could still have been caught, but it's possible he wouldn't have. If he didn't go and stay at Best Western that night and leave the gun and ammunition at the Arby's, I mean, who knows if they would have ever caught him. Or even if they did eventually catch him, I'm not sure if it would have been that quick. Now, I'm sure a lot of you are wondering about his parents.

Well, they never got charged. At the end of the day, investigators just couldn't prove that they knew what he did. And so there haven't been any kind of repercussions for them, which is really frustrating because I truly believe, I think most of you will agree, that they did know what he had done. Or at least knew that he did something really bad.

I think it says a whole lot that they were like, oh yeah, no, he killed himself, you can just move on. Like that's the vibe they were trying to get, like, nothing to see here. I don't know, it's just so frustrating. All this was so, so unnecessary. And the fact, like when you really think about it, the idea that Kevin didn't know Pond, had no idea who this man was,

and like thinking about what his last moments were like is devastating. He was probably so confused. And I mean, it happened fast. He was shot, I mean, eight times very quickly. So, at least it was shot, I mean, eight times very quickly. So at least it was quick, but I can imagine that in those moments he had to have been so confused. He had no idea who Pond was.

But at the end of the day though, I'm just glad that there has been some kind of justice, even though it's not, I think, what anyone wanted, other than maybe Pond's parents. But I think everyone in Kevin's life, and I'm sure most of you wish he had gotten more, and I certainly feel that way. And it goes without saying, I guess, that justice will never bring Kevin home, but at least it's something.

And I'm grateful that they were able to catch him and that there is some accountability. And 35 years is a lot. Not enough once again, but yeah. That is gonna be it for me today, guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode and make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple podcasts. It really does help me out.

If you wanna watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just search Kendall Rae. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then, stay safe out there.