Jiang Ge, a 24-year-old graduate student from China at Hosei University, was stabbed to death by Chen Shifeng, a 25-year old Chinese national, just outside her apartment.

She was raised by her mother Jiang Qiulian (Chinese: 江秋莲; pinyin: Jiāng Qiūlián), who had divorced Ge's father when she was one year old.

[4][5] Chen Shifeng (Chinese: 陈世峰; pinyin: Chén Shìfēng) (born 1991) is from Yanchi County in the city of Wuzhong, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, in western China.

Jiang suggested calling the police, but Liu cited that sharing the apartment was against local laws and she did not want to escalate the situation.

Around 11:00 PM, feeling scared, Liu asked Jiang via WeChat to wait for her at the Higashi-Nakano Station so they could return to the apartment together.

Jiang, suffering from severe blood loss due to a left common carotid artery injury, died despite attempts to save her.

During the subsequent investigation, the police found evidence of his involvement in the crime and issued an arrest warrant for him on the suspicion of murder.

However, some legal professionals, including Jiang's then-legal representative, believed that the impact of this petition campaign might be limited and it would be unlikely that Chen would be sentenced to death.

In August 2017, Jiang's signature collection campaign brought the case back into the public spotlight, leading to further criticism and even causing Liu to be dismissed from the Japanese language school where she was teaching in Qingdao.

In November, the interviews with Jiang and Liu by The Beijing News were published on the internet, generating a huge response in China and bringing certain doubts and details of the case back into the public eye.

Some netizens believed that, although the online harassment against Liu Xin had reached the level of cyberbullying, given her actions in the case, it was a deserved punishment for her.

However, some argued that until the facts are confirmed and responsibility is determined, the public's moral judgment of Liu lacks a factual basis and is unfair.

[30][32][33][34][35][20] However, there are also voices that believe that before the truth is confirmed and responsibility is determined, public opinion's "moral trial" against Liu Xin is both unfounded and unfair.

She also announced that she would file a lawsuit against Liu Xin after returning to China to investigate her responsibility in Jiang Ge's murder.

On 22 December 2019, Weibo banned Liu Xin's account on the grounds that she had consumed money earned through donations from her followers and had attacked Jiang Ge's family.

The case was originally scheduled to be pronounced on the morning of 31 December, but due to sudden illness of the presiding judge on the day earlier, the verdict was temporarily canceled.

[44][45] On 19 January 2022, the court issued a first-instance judgment stating that Liu was at fault due to her locking the door at the time of Jiang Ge's murder and that she should bear the corresponding civil liability.

The court's ruling further stated that "Jiang [Ge]’s selflessness toward others reflects Chinese traditional virtues and is in line with socialism’s core values, public order, and good morals, which should be praised … while Liu’s behavior goes against humanity and should be condemned.”[46][47] On 24 January, Liu stated through her attorney that she had appealed against the ruling, and believed that the first-instance judgment found insufficient factual evidence and applied the law incorrectly, and requested the second-instance court to remand the case for retrial or change the judgment to reject all the appellee's claims in accordance with the law.

[51] On 1 June 2023, Jiang Qiulian issued an article stating that the total compensation of ¥696,000 had been paid by Liu after the court enforced the ruling four times.

[52] On 13 June, Jiang issued a statement on Weibo saying that she had received a notice of response from the Shandong Provincial Higher People's Court.