SIX young men were prosecuted for intentional homicide. Four of the accused were underage when a fatal street fight took place March 19 this year.

A 19-year-old man, surnamed Chen, was stabbed to death during the fight in the Futian Huanqing Culture Square in the early morning that day, the Southern Legal News reported.

A 14-year-old suspect identified as Cai was the youngest among them and the one who started the fight, in which one of his friends stabbed the 19-year-old to death.

The gang of suspects, led by Cai, had returned to Cai’s home to rest before they were arrested by police later in the morning of the fatal fight.

According to the report, the fight started because Cai had discovered that a girl he fancied hung out with the victim the night before.

Cai, born in 2001, was a high school student. Raised in a wealthy family, Cai was known in his hometown for being a troublemaker. The other three minors involved in the case grew up together in the same hometown, according to the suspects’ statements.

On the night before the incident, Cai’s friend called several girls out to drink alcohol with them in Futian District as suggested by Cai. Cai fell in love at first sight with one of the girls, whose last name was Min.

The girls left about 20 minutes later and went to play pool with another group of people. Cai followed the girls and found that Min was playing pool with the victim, which made him jealous.

After several rounds of arguments, Cai and the victim, surnamed Chen, contacted their respective friends and agreed to have a fight in a public square in Futian District.

When they began the fight, both parties hadn’t brought a knife or other weapons. However, one of Cai’s friends became furious when his glasses were broken, and he purchased three fruit knives from a nearby shop and fatally stabbed Chen in the abdomen.

Chen was later taken to Shenzhen Traditional Medicine Hospital, but was confirmed dead after an emergency treatment failed. In the meantime, Cai and his friends went back to Cai’s home to rest and were arrested later in the morning.

In this case, four out of the six defendants were juveniles — under 18 years old. According to the law, suspects over 14 years old are legally responsible for intentional injury and murder, but receive minor criminal sentences. (Zhang Qian, Liu Shiyang)