China has executed a kindergarten teacher who killed a child after poisoning 25 students at the school where she worked.

Wang Yun, 40, was found guilty of lacing porridge with toxic sodium nitrite, which was then served to more than two dozen children at Mengmeng Pre-school Education back in March 2019. All the students reportedly recovered from the poison except one who died of multiple organ failure 10 months after the incident, according to NBC 5 DFW.

According to a CBS News report, Wang’s motive was allegedly revenge. In addition to the 25 children she poisoned, she also reportedly poisoned her husband, who managed to survive. Initially, Wang was sentenced to 9 months in prison, but the sentence was converted to death. Wang appealed, but the court rejected her bid.

It is currently unclear what method of execution was used, however, Fox News reported that most executions in China are carried out by firearm. Lethal injection is also used for state executions. According to the news outlet, the mass poisoning may have stemmed from a disagreement Wang had with a colleague over “student management.”

Violent crime is reportedly low in Chinese society, likely due to the heavy-handed policing of social behavior. According to CBS News, social scientists have noted that failures in mental health treatment and the added stress on individuals caused by the country’s economic downturn in recent years are contributing to a rise in such child attacks.

Recently, a 25-year-old man killed six people — including three children — in a knife attack at a kindergarten in southeastern Guangdong province on July 10. While guns are essentially banned in China, mass knife attacks at schools have become prevalent, BBC reported.

In August 2022, a knife-wielding attacker stormed a kindergarten in Jiangxi province. Three people were killed in the incident. The year before that, two children were killed and 16 others were injured in a mass stabbing in Beiliu City, according to the news outlet.

 
One of the deadliest mass knife attacks in China occurred in 2014 when a group of men attacked a train station, allegedly for political reasons, according to NBC News. The incident resulted in the deaths of 33 people, including the four attackers. The four men also wounded more than 130 others in the melee.