Murder of Xinran Ji

In the early hours of July 24, 2014, Xinran Ji (), a 24-year-old Chinese graduate student at the University of Southern California (USC), was fatally beaten during an attempted robbery near the university's campus in Los Angeles, California. Ji was attacked with a baseball bat and a wrench while returning to his apartment after a study session. Although seriously injured, he reached his apartment, where a roommate found him dead several hours later.

Four teenagers—Andrew Garcia, Alberto Ochoa, Alejandra Guerrero, and Jonathan Del Carmen—were prosecuted in connection with the killing and a robbery at Dockweiler State Beach later that morning. Garcia and Ochoa were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The murder convictions initially entered against Guerrero and Del Carmen were later vacated following changes in California law; Guerrero was resentenced for voluntary manslaughter in 2025, while Del Carmen's offense was redesignated as attempted robbery in 2021.

The killing drew particular attention among Chinese students in the United States and renewed debate about safety around USC. The university subsequently expanded patrols, surveillance, transportation, and safety education for international students.

Xinran Ji

Ji was born in 1990 and was from Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China. In 2006, he placed first in his city's high-school admission examination. He later studied at Zhejiang University, where research on control systems for quadrotor aircraft earned him a first-class scholarship for research and innovation in 2012. He entered USC's electrical engineering master's program in the fall of 2013. Friends recalled his interest in engineering, photography, music, and cycling.

Attack and investigation

Shortly before 1 a.m. on July 24, Ji left a study group after walking a fellow student home. Near West 29th Street and Orchard Avenue, a few blocks from USC, he was confronted by Garcia, Ochoa, Guerrero, and Del Carmen. Prosecutors said the group selected Ji because he was Chinese and they believed he would be carrying money. At the time of the crime, Garcia was 18, Del Carmen was 19, Ochoa was 17, and Guerrero was 16.

Ochoa struck Ji with a metal baseball bat, and Guerrero used a wrench during the assault. Ji broke away, but Garcia chased him and repeatedly struck him with the bat. Ji then walked approximately a quarter-mile back to his off-campus apartment, leaving a trail of blood. A roommate found him dead at about 7 a.m.

After the assault, members of the group went to Dockweiler State Beach, where prosecutors said they robbed a woman and attempted to rob a man. The man escaped and flagged down police officers, who detained suspects in connection with the beach attack. Investigators then connected the group's vehicle to Ji's killing. Surveillance footage and an automatic license-plate reader near USC also aided the investigation. Four suspects were arrested within days. They were charged with murder with a special-circumstance allegation that the killing occurred during an attempted robbery, and the two minors were prosecuted as adults.

Criminal proceedings

Alejandra Guerrero

In October 2016, a jury convicted Guerrero of first-degree felony murder, finding that she had been a major participant in the attempted robbery and had acted with reckless indifference to human life. She was also convicted of robbery, attempted robbery, and assault with a deadly weapon arising from the Dockweiler Beach attack. In July 2018, Guerrero was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the murder, plus additional terms for the other offenses.

The California Court of Appeal upheld Guerrero's convictions in 2020 but ordered resentencing because the trial court had not adequately considered mitigating factors related to her youth. After the same judge reimposed the sentence at a hearing held without Guerrero present, the appellate court reversed the judgment again in March 2022 and ordered a new hearing before a different judge.

On March 27, 2025, under an agreement between prosecutors and the defense, Guerrero's first-degree murder conviction was vacated and replaced with a conviction for voluntary manslaughter. She was resentenced to 15 years and eight months. Guerrero agreed to waive credit for nearly three years of time she had already served. Prosecutors said intervening changes in state law could otherwise have returned her case to juvenile court.

Andrew Garcia

A jury convicted Garcia in June 2017 of first-degree murder, robbery, attempted robbery, and assault with a deadly weapon. It also found true the special circumstance of murder during an attempted robbery and found that he personally used a baseball bat. On August 16, 2017, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, plus five years and eight months. The California Court of Appeal affirmed his convictions in 2019, while remanding a limited issue concerning his ability to pay fines and fees.

Jonathan Del Carmen

Del Carmen, who drove the group's car and remained in it during the attack, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in August 2017. He was sentenced in July 2018 to 15 years to life in prison. In March 2021, following a change to California's felony-murder law, a judge vacated the murder conviction and redesignated the offense as attempted robbery. Prosecutors acknowledged that there was insufficient evidence that Del Carmen had acted with reckless indifference to human life. He was resentenced to time served.

Alberto Ochoa

In December 2018, a jury convicted Ochoa of first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon, second-degree robbery, and attempted second-degree robbery. He was sentenced on March 8, 2019, to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Because he had been 17 at the time of the killing, California law entitled him to a youth-offender parole hearing during his 25th year of incarceration.

In 2020, the California Court of Appeal upheld Ochoa's conviction but remanded the case for resentencing, ruling that the trial court had been required to consider youth-related mitigating factors before selecting a life-without-parole sentence.

Response and legacy

The killing caused widespread concern among USC's Chinese students and their families. Ji was the third Chinese graduate engineering student killed near the university in a little more than two years, following the 2012 murders of Ming Qu and Ying Wu. Hundreds of supporters attended court proceedings, and gatherings were held in both Los Angeles and Beijing.

USC held a memorial service for Ji on August 1, 2014, and awarded his Master of Science degree posthumously to his parents. The USC Viterbi School of Engineering established an endowed memorial scholarship for electrical engineering graduate students from China, Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan.

Following the killing, USC announced measures including year-round deployment of neighborhood security ambassadors, additional patrols and surveillance staff, upgrades to security cameras, expansion of a free-ride service, an international-student safety advisory group, and expanded safety education for international graduate students.

The investigation and aftermath were the subject of Unfinished Lives, a documentary by USC filmmaker Yucong Rae Chen. The film won the documentary category at the 2021 GSA BAFTA Student Awards.

See also

• Murder of Shao Tong
• Murder of Yao Yu