UNC grad student competent to stand trial, expected to plead not guilty by reason of insanity

The man charged with shooting a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor in August of 2023 is competent to stand trial.

2026-03-25

On Wednesday, an Orange County judge ruled that Tailei Qi is able to stand trial for the August 2023 murder of UNC Professor Zijie Yan. The state will not seek the death penalty in this case.

Attorneys for Qi told the judge that he was recently evaluated by doctors who .determined that Qi does understand the charges against him and is able to support his attorneys in his defense.

Qi’s defense attorneys told the judge they still plan to argue that Qi is not guilty by reason of insanity.

As a result, the judge ordered another mental evaluation to determine his mental status at the time of the shooting in 2023.

Being found mentally competent for trial means that a defendant understands the charges against him/her and can assist their attorneys in their defense. Whether a defendant is mentally “insane” at the time of the crime is a different question.

For Qi to be found guilty, a jury must believe he both committed the crime and had the intent to do so.

Until now Qi was deemed not mentally capable of standing trial, after multiple psychiatric evaluations. Medical experts cited Qi's history of paranoid ideation and untreated psychosis. 

On August 28, 2023, Qi, a graduate student at the time, is alleged to have walked into a campus building and shot Professor Yan. Qi was one of Yan’s graduate students.  A father of two, Yan was an associate professor in UNC’s department of applied physical sciences, where he focused on nanoscience technology. He was studying how it can be used to improve drug delivery to human cells.

In November 2023, Qi was deemed not mentally capable of standing trial. Two psychiatric evaluations, conducted in September 2023 and November 2023, concluded that Qi has severe mental illness, most likely schizophrenia or untreated psychosis.

Qi is charged with first-degree murder and possession of a weapon on educational property.

His next court appearance is scheduled for June 16.