Chongqing kid who attempted to kill a toddler had animal abuse history

Attempted murderer and animal abuser
Old pic of Li
Name	Li Yi Rui (李依芮) Her name has been changed at least twice since the incident.
Age	10 (at time of incident)
Occupation	Elementary school student
Known Identifiers
Status	Faced no criminal charges; relocated with family.
Involvement	Perpetrator of the November 25, 2013 attack on the infant Yuanyuan (原原). Had a documented history of animal cruelty and violence against peers.
Punitive Measure	Exempt from criminal responsibility under 2013 law. Family paid partial medical compensation.

The 2013 Chongqing Elevator Child Abuse Case refers to a shocking incident on November 25, 2013, in which a 10-year-old girl, identified as Li Yi Rui (李依芮), brutally attacked a 1.5-year-old boy named Yuanyuan (原原) in an elevator before throwing him from a 25th-floor balcony. The event, captured in part by surveillance footage, became a national flashpoint, revealing a disturbing history of precursor violence and family dysfunction, and ultimately acting as a catalyst for reforming China's laws on juvenile criminal responsibility.

The case received widespread media attention due to its unusual nature.

Perpetrator's background and family issues

Li Yi Rui's violent actions were rooted in a dysfunctional family environment characterized by a toxic combination of parental neglect and grandparental spoiling.

Her parents were emotionally and physically absent for much of her life, admittedly knowing very little about her personality or school life. In stark contrast, her paternal grandfather was pathologically protective, unconditionally defending her in any conflict with other children and refusing to hold her accountable for her actions. This dynamic cultivated in her an extreme egocentrism and a disregard for the suffering of others, teaching her that her aggressive behaviors would always be shielded from consequences. After the incident, her family remained in denial, with her father attempting to rationalize the attack by claiming his daughter "loves small animals" and suggesting the baby may have been "startled by a dog and fell on his own," a narrative that directly contradicted the evidence.

Rumors circulating online.

History of precursor violence (Animal and Human Abuse)

Prior to the 2013 attack, Li Yi Rui displayed a clear and escalating pattern of antisocial behavior, which was consistently ignored by the adults in her life.

Animal cruelty

Her history of zoosadism served as a significant warning sign and manifested in diverse and repeated acts of cruelty:

• Throwing from heights: Before elementary school, she was witnessed throwing a puppy from a second-floor corridor. She would also repeatedly throw her own dog to the ground.
• Systematic killing: She was observed calmly and methodically stomping on ants one by one. She also exhibited contradictory behavior by kissing a snail and then immediately crushing it.
• Active aggression: She was seen throwing rocks and specifically aiming for the heads of large, aggressive stray dogs that even adults feared.

Despite this well-documented history, her father insisted after the main incident that she "loves small animals."

Violence against peers

Her violence also targeted other children. At age six, she held a neighbor girl's head underwater. She was known for hitting her peers, and her grandparents would threaten any child who fought back. Even her method of showing affection was violent; she would hug another girl so tightly that the child would turn red and gasp for air.

Violent fantasies

The most direct warning came when she explicitly told a classmate that she wanted to "put a baby in a bag and throw it from a building." This statement, dismissed as a "joke" at the time, was a direct verbalization of her violent ideation and a chilling prelude to the actual crime.

The attack on Yuanyuan

On the afternoon of November 25, 2013, Li Yi Rui encountered 1.5-year-old Yuanyuan with his grandmother in their apartment building's elevator lobby. As the grandmother exited with a stroller, Li snatched Yuanyuan just before the elevator doors closed, taking him up to the 25th floor.

Still image captured from elevator surveillance footage

Elevator surveillance footage captured the brutal assault that followed. Li threw the toddler to the floor and proceeded to kick him in the head and body six times, delivering two additional heavy blows. She then dragged him out of the elevator and into the 25th-floor corridor. In the subsequent 2 minutes and 49 seconds off-camera, she took Yuanyuan into her family's apartment, continued to beat him, and then threw him from the balcony.

Her actions after the attack displayed a shocking level of coldness and manipulation. When confronted by the frantic grandmother, Li calmly lied, claiming Yuanyuan had been taken by another child, changing her story multiple times. She then feigned sympathy, patting the grandmother's shoulder and offering to help search. She located the critically injured Yuanyuan, moved his body from the bushes to a more visible path, and then watched from the crowd as neighbors gathered, showing no emotion.

Aftermath and legal consequences

Yuanyuan survived the fall with catastrophic injuries, including a severe skull fracture and lacerated brain, but miraculously awoke from a coma days later and began a long road to recovery.

Due to the law in effect in 2013, Li Yi Rui, at age 10, was below the age of criminal responsibility (then 14) and faced no criminal charges. After paying a portion of the medical bills, her family relocated her to Xinjiang, effectively removing her from any further legal or psychological oversight.

The case sparked a nationwide debate about juvenile justice. This public pressure, combined with other high-profile cases of severe juvenile crime, acted as a key catalyst for legal reform. On March 1, 2021, an amendment to China's Criminal Law came into effect, lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12 for severe crimes like murder and aggravated assault, subject to approval from the supreme procuratorate.