Chinese kindergarten teacher sentenced to death for poisoning 25 students

A kindergarten teacher in China was sentenced to death for poisoning 25 students, including one who died, last year, a court ruled Monday.

Calling her actions “despicable and vicious,” the Jiaozuo Intermediate People’s Court said Wang Yun acted out of “revenge” when she placed sodium nitrate in porridge that was meant to go to another teacher’s students at the school in Jiaozuo city in March 2019, according to the BBC.

The court said Wang had previously gotten into an argument with the other teacher regarding student management.

The lone fatality was reportedly a student who died after spending 10 months in the hospital.

“She should be punished severely in accordance with the law,” the court said, according to CNN.

Wang reportedly purchased the nitrate over the internet. The substance is sometimes used in food preservatives or in fertilizer, and can cause health issues including vomiting, abdominal cramping and, in some cases, death.

Following the porridge incident, Wang was arrested and detained.

“The vomit was all over (their) pants," one parent told the Chinese outlet Global Times last year. “There were other children who were also throwing up, and they looked pale.”

In February 2017, Wang allegedly put nitrate in her husband’s glass. He suffered minor injuries at the time.