MIT researcher pleads guilty to 2021 fatal shooting of Yale grad student from Chicago

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- A 32-year-old Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher accused of fatally shooting a Yale graduate student who was from Chicago in 2021 pleaded guilty to murder Thursday, a news release from local officials said.

Qinxuan Pan of New Haven, Connecticut faces 35 years in prison when he is sentenced in April.

Pan's plea stems from the murder of Kevin Jiang on Feb. 6, 2021, the New Haven State's Attorney's Office said in the release.

When police arrived to the scene, they said Jiang was suffering from "multiple gunshot wounds to the face" and that "he had been shot at close range."

Police eventually arrested then-30-year-old Pan.

Pan was on the run for three months and was picked up by U.S. Marshals in Alabama.

Jiang was a Yale graduate student from Chicago who was recently engaged.

It was also reported that Jiang's fiancée and Pan knew each other and that they both went to MIT.

She told police they met while attending Christian groups on campus and talked at various event, but were just friends.

SEE MORE: Yale grad student from Chicago shot multiple times, accused shooter knew fiancée: arrest warrant

She told police, "she did get a feeling that he was interested in her during that time."

A week before Jiang was killed, the couple announced their engagement and posted pictures on social media, which the fiancée and Pan were connected on.

Pan last contacted Jiang's fiancée through Facebook when she graduated from MIT.

"Pan contacted her to congratulate her and asked her if she would be able to have a Zoom call, which never occurred," documents stated.

ABC7 Chicago contributed to this report.