(Photo/Ming Pao Daily)
A mentally disturbed college student that stabbed a fellow fair-goer at an art exhibition in Miami last December has pleaded guilty to attempted murder, claiming she believed her victim to be an ISIS terrorist.
The 24-year-old woman, Siyuan Zhao, admitted to attacking Shin Seo Young on Dec. 4 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. The stabbing occurred near an art installation titled "The Swamp of Sagittarius." Zhao followed Shin, 33, and stabbed her in the shoulder and neck with an X-Acto knife. The victim survived the attack.
In a plea to the judge, Zhao's psychiatrist testified that the defendant suffers from mental illness, the symptoms of which include hearing voices in her head. At the time of the attack, Zhao heard voices telling her to kill Shin and two others, and watch them bleed so as to protect the event from the ISIS terror group. Miami-Dade circuit judge Alberto Milian accepted a plea deal from the defendant, ordering her to be deported and never allowed back in the U.S.
Zhao's violent behavior continued even after her arrest. While in treatment, Zhao attempted to kill a therapy bird and vandalized a doctor's car. But after several months of treatment, Zhao improved greatly. She was taking her medication, undergoing intensive therapy and learning to understand the gravity of the attack, defense lawyers Howard Srebnick and Mark Shapiro told the judge.
