Manzhouli Tian Sheng Long's filicide and animal abuse history

Torture and Murder of Tian Luoxi
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Key Details
Location	Manzhouli, Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, China
Species Involved	—
Type of Abuse	Filicide, child abuse, torture, animal cruelty, blunt force trauma, starvation, binding
Timeline
Date of Incident	February–December 2023 (abuse period); December 21, 2023 (death)
Date Discovered	—
Date Closed	—
Status & Outcome
Case Status	Perpetrators convicted; sentences upheld on final appeal.
Perpetrator	Tian Sheng Long (田胜龙), Wen Taotao (文桃桃)
Aftermath	—

Person of Interest
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Name	Tian Sheng Long (田胜龙)
Age	26 (at time of crime)
Occupation	Wood processing business
Known Identifiers	Public
Status	Sentenced
Involvement	Perpetrator in the torture and murder of his 3-year-old daughter, Tian Luoxi. Also perpetrated the torture of a kitten.
Punitive Measure	Sentenced to life in prison for intentional injury and abuse. The sentence was upheld on appeal.

Person of Interest
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Name	Wen Taotao (文桃桃)
Age	22 (at time of crime)
Occupation	Unemployed
Known Identifiers	Public
Status	Sentenced
Involvement	Co-perpetrator in the torture and murder of her boyfriend's 3-year-old daughter, Tian Luoxi.
Punitive Measure	Sentenced to death for intentional injury and abuse. The sentence was upheld on appeal.

The Manzhouli filicide and animal abuse case involves the systematic torture and eventual murder of a three-year-old girl, Tian Luoxi (田洛溪), by her biological father, Tian Sheng Long (田胜龙), and his girlfriend, Wen Taotao (文桃桃), in 2023. The case is notable for the extreme sadism inflicted upon a defenseless child, which included recording the abuse in videos titled "Hunting Time" (猎杀时刻), and for the perpetrator's prior history of torturing another helpless victim: a kitten. Following a highly publicized trial, Wen Taotao was sentenced to death and Tian Sheng Long was sentenced to life in prison, verdicts which were upheld on final appeal in August 2025.

Background

Tian Sheng Long and Li Tingting (李婷婷), both from Pingxiang County, Hebei, were introduced in 2019. After a brief courtship of only 12 days, they became engaged and married in December 2019. Their daughter, later named Tian Luoxi but called Tiantian (甜甜), was born in April 2021. After the birth, Tian Sheng Long moved to Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia, to work in his father's wood processing business, while Li Tingting remained in Hebei to care for their daughter. Tian's family, particularly his parents, were openly disappointed that the first-born child was a girl.

During their separation, Tian convinced his wife to take out over 150,000 RMB in online loans for his "business," which later ballooned to over 200,000 RMB with interest, leaving Li Tingting to face the debt collectors. Concurrently, Tian began an affair with Wen Taotao (b. 2001) in Manzhouli, with whom he started living and referred to as his "wife." In February 2023, Tian returned to Hebei, demanded a divorce, and forcibly abducted Tian Luoxi, cutting off all contact with Li Tingting.

History of animal cruelty

In October 2023, while living with his daughter and Wen Taotao, Tian Sheng Long adopted a kitten from a neighbor. He returned the kitten the very next day, claiming it had "gone crazy." The neighbor found the kitten in a trash bin, its eyes full of tears. A closer inspection revealed its entire front chest was covered in a thick layer of blood. A veterinary visit and X-rays confirmed the kitten's knees were completely shattered from being intentionally beaten, an injury that would likely cause a lifelong disability. When confronted, Tian first denied it, then paid 800 RMB and demanded the matter be dropped.

Torture and murder of Tian Luoxi

From February to December 2023, Tian Sheng Long and Wen Taotao subjected the defenseless toddler to a campaign of horrific abuse in their Manzhouli apartment. They frequently used their fists, feet, wooden sticks, data cables, slippers, and rice shovels to beat her. The abuse also included methods such as starvation, sleep deprivation, and binding.

In a particularly sadistic practice, they recorded videos of the abuse, which they titled "Hunting Time" (猎杀时刻), a term from video game culture used to describe expertly killing an opponent. Wen Taotao also documented their acts in a memo on her phone, which included details of stuffing socks into the child's mouth and putting a urine-soaked pad on her head. They continued to beat the child even after she began experiencing seizures and periods of unconsciousness.

On the morning of December 21, 2023, after Tian Sheng Long had left for work, Wen Taotao discovered that Tian Luoxi had wet the bed. Enraged, she beat the child with a data cable and ordered her to go to the bathroom. The girl collapsed in the bathroom and began convulsing. Instead of seeking immediate medical help, Wen called Tian, who returned home, and they continued to assault the child before finally taking her to the hospital at 8:42 AM. Tian Luoxi was declared dead at 9:25 AM.

A forensic autopsy revealed the cause of death was a ruptured right atrium due to blunt force trauma to the chest, leading to acute cardiac tamponade. The examination found that the child's body was covered in bruises, with a total injured surface area of 832.5cm².

Legal proceedings and outcome

Tian Sheng Long and Wen Taotao were criminally detained on the day of the murder and formally arrested on January 26, 2024. The Hulunbuir People's Procuratorate charged both with abuse and intentional injury.

The first trial was held on August 21, 2024. Li Tingting appeared in court, waived all rights to civil compensation, and knelt while holding her daughter's photo, begging the court to sentence both defendants to death. The defense argued that the defendants were only guilty of abuse, not intentional injury. At the end of the trial, both Tian and Wen stated they were remorseful and asked the court to sentence them to death.

On December 6, 2024, the court delivered the first-instance verdicts:

• Wen Taotao was found guilty of intentional injury and abuse and was sentenced to death.
• Tian Sheng Long was found guilty of intentional injury and abuse and was sentenced to life in prison.

Li Tingting was not satisfied with Tian's sentence and appealed to the procuratorate for a harsher penalty, but her request was denied. Tian Sheng Long appealed his own sentence, arguing he was not guilty of intentional injury. The second and final trial was held on June 6, 2025. On August 22, 2025, the high court announced its decision to reject the appeal and uphold the original sentences.