Murders of Ming Qu and Ying Wu

Ming Qu, 23, from Jilin City, and Ying Wu, 23, from Changde, Hunan, were graduate students pursuing master's degrees in electrical engineering at the University of Southern California (USC) School of Engineering, where they had enrolled in 2010. On the night of April 11, 2012, both had been studying separately at the USC library. Around 12:30 a.m., they left campus together in Qu's 2003 BMW and drove toward Wu's apartment on the 2700 block of Raymond Avenue in the Adams-Normandie neighborhood, arriving shortly before 1:00 a.m. Rather than parting ways, they remained in the car in the parking lot to continue talking.

At approximately 1:00 a.m., two men approached the vehicle openly displaying firearms. Qu managed to exit the car and ran to a nearby home, pounding on the door for help, but was shot multiple times in the head. Wu was killed by a single gunshot to the chest while still seated in the front passenger seat. The shooting occurred during heavy rain, which complicated the crime scene. Both victims were transported to California Hospital Medical Center in downtown Los Angeles, where they were pronounced dead on arrival.

Investigators traced Wu's cell phone, which had been taken from the scene by the perpetrators. This tracking led to the arrest of Bryan Barnes, 20, on May 18, 2012, who lived near the USC campus. A second suspect, 19-year-old Javier Bolden of Palmdale, was also detained that day. Both men were charged with two counts of murder and were separately charged with attempted murder in connection with an unrelated December 2011 shooting at a South Los Angeles party that left one woman seriously wounded and a man paralyzed. Barnes was additionally suspected of firing shots at a February 2012 party that wounded a 20-year-old man. Prosecutors indicated both defendants were eligible for the death penalty.

Bryan Barnes pleaded guilty to two counts of murder on February 25, 2014, and was immediately sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, having admitted to special circumstances that could have made him death-penalty eligible. Javier Bolden was convicted at trial in October 2014 and, in November 2014, was also sentenced to life without parole.

The killings prompted significant community response, including a memorial attended by approximately one thousand people at the Shrine Auditorium the following week. The Chinese Consul General in Los Angeles issued a statement pledging cooperation on issues arising from the case. The victims' parents subsequently filed a lawsuit against USC alleging misrepresentation of campus security; in February 2013, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge dismissed the suit, finding no causal connection between the university's security representations and the killings.