A Chinese man sentenced to death for killing a two-year-old girl by hurling her to the ground after an argument with the baby's mother over a parking space has appealed for a lighter sentence.
Han Lei was awarded death sentence by the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court on September 25 on charges of intentional homicide.
The 39-year-old had grabbed the toddler from her carriage and hurled her to the ground in Daxing District of Beijing on July 23.
The convict has now appealed to have his crime reduced to involuntary homicide on the grounds that he didn't know it was a baby carriage or that he was hurling a baby.
During the trial, Han had claimed that he thought he slammed the carriage down but not the baby.
However, the court dismissed his plea as his friend, who was with him at the scene, testified that Han had thrown the baby down in a fit of anger.
According to China's law, involuntary homicide will be sentenced to three to seven years' imprisonment, while intentional homicide will be given the death penalty.
