XI'AN - A university student who allegedly stabbed to death a young mother he had injured in a car accident has sparked a new public furor over moral standards among the children of China's privileged classes.

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Yao Jiaxin, a 21-year-old student at the Xi'an Conservatory of Music in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, knocked down cyclist Zhang Miao while driving his Chevrolet Cruze at around 11 pm on October 20.

When he saw Zhang staring at him and his number plate, Yao is alleged to have taken out a knife and stabbed Zhang eight times until she was dead.

In a hurry to flee the scene, Yao injured two other passersby, a man and a woman, according to police.

Yao was captured by police on October 22 and was detained on suspicion of murder the following day. He allegedly admitted to killing the victim simply because he feared the "peasant woman would be hard to deal with."

Zhang, 26, the mother of a 2-year-old boy, was indeed a peasant woman. On the night of her death she was going home from her temporary job as an assistant at a canteen at Northwest University's Chang'an Branch.

Police said she suffered only slight injuries from the traffic accident, including a fracture of her left leg.

In an interview with Xinhua Tuesday in the couple's home on the outskirts of Xi'an, Zhang's husband Wang Hui said he would do all he could to ensure justice for the killer.

Zhang's son often cried in his sleep and demanded to see his mother, he said.

Wang feared Yao would be let off lightly. "I heard his parents are rich -- how else could a student afford a car?"

Zhang's family had expected Yao's family to visit or, at least, to send a message of apology.

"I know they feel miserable too, knowing their only son could face death," said Zhang's father, Zhang Pingxuan. "But I was hurt badly when a policeman said the other day his parents 'didn't want to see us'".

Xu Tao, a Xi'an lawyer, has offered free legal counseling for the family.

Xu said Yao could face the death penalty if convicted of murder. The most lenient penalty, however, could be a 10-year jail term, if a murder charge was rejected.