Beijing:
A student of music who stabbed to death a woman after an accident as he feared she will report him to the authorities was sentenced to death on Friday by a court in China's Shaanxi province.
Yao Jiaxin murdered the woman, who had only suffered minor injuries and a small fracture, after an accident in October 2010, Xinhua reported.
He was sentenced to death Friday by a court in Xi'an.
Yao, 21, a student at the Xi'an Conservatory of Music, ran into cyclist Zhang Miao while driving his car around 10.30 p.m.
Fearing that Zhang would remember his license plate number and report him to authorities, he stabbed her to death, according to the Intermediate People's Court of Xi'an.
The court also ordered Yao to pay 45,498.50 yuan in compensation to Zhang's family.
Yao fled the scene after stabbing the woman and injured two others as he drove away.
He denied the murder to the police Oct 22, but surrendered the next day and admitted to the killing, the court said.
Yao allegedly admitted to killing the woman as he feared the "peasant woman would be hard to deal with".
Police said the victim had suffered only slight injuries from the accident, including a small fracture to her left leg.
Yao did not try to help the victim, and he instead resorted to murder to silence her, making his crime extremely serious, the court said.
"The motive is extremely despicable... the measures are extremely cruel... and the consequence is extremely serious," the court judgment added.