A judge in Illinois has found Alan Wang, 61, formerly of Naperville, guilty of First-Degree Murder in the brutal 2020 beating death of his wife, Hongyan Yang, 35.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin announced today that Judge Ann Celine O’Hallaren Walsh issued the verdict this morning, following a four-day bench trial that concluded on September 12, 2025. Wang was found guilty of one count of First-Degree Murder.
The Incident and Investigation
The case stems from an incident on the evening of March 7, 2020. According to authorities, Wang and Yang were in their bedroom at their residence on the 1100 block of N. Mill Street when Wang found texts from another man on his wife’s phone. In a fit of rage, Wang allegedly kicked his wife multiple times.
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The following day, March 8, 2020, at approximately 4:50 p.m., a relative of the couple called 9-1-1 after Yang appeared to have stopped breathing. Personnel from the Naperville Police and Fire Departments responded to the scene. Yang was transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 5:54 p.m.
An investigation conducted by the Naperville Police Department and the DuPage County Coroner’s Office concluded that the victim died as a result of blunt force trauma due to assault.
Legal Proceedings
Wang was initially charged with Aggravated Domestic Battery on March 11, 2020, and released from custody on electronic monitoring after posting $85,000—10% of the $850,000 bond.
The charges were upgraded to two counts of First-Degree Murder on June 19, 2020, following the autopsy results. Wang’s bond was subsequently increased to $1,250,000 on July 8, 2020, and he has remained in custody at the DuPage County Jail ever since.
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State’s Attorney Responds to Verdict
Following the verdict, State’s Attorney Berlin stressed the tragic context of the crime, citing national statistics on domestic violence.
“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Violent Death Reporting System, in 2020, the year Hongyan Yang was murdered, 1,364 women lost their lives to domestic violence,” Berlin said. “Those thirteen-hundred-plus women are not just a statistic however, they were mothers, daughters and sisters, each of whom had a full life ahead of them. Their tragic deaths remind us we have a long way to go in preventing domestic violence.”
Berlin thanked Judge O’Hallaren Walsh for a fair trial and commended the Naperville Police Department, the DuPage County Coroner’s Office, and Assistant State’s Attorneys Amanda Meindl, Sarah Henley, and Jeff O’Boyle for their work on the case.
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“Judge O’Hallaren Walsh’s guilty verdict ensures that Mr. Wang will be held responsible for the brutal murder of his wife, Hongyan,” Berlin added, offering condolences to Yang’s family and friends.
Wang’s next court appearance is scheduled for November 12, 2025, for post-trial motions and return of the Pre-Sentencing Report.
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