Crime · Berkeley, CA
Berkeley Judge Expunges Co-Worker's Poisoning Conviction; Victim Speaks Out
A Berkeley engineer, Rong Yuan, is speaking publicly after a judge on October 12 expunged the felony conviction of her former co-worker, David Xu, despite prosecutors' objections. Xu pleaded guilty in a plea agreement to poisoning Yuan with cadmium—a toxic chemical found at 3.5 million times the federal level in her water bottle—and received two years of probation after being charged with premeditated attempted murder in 2019. Yuan and her parents tested positive for cadmium poisoning, and she says she continues to experience health effects nearly a decade later, working only part-time. Yuan requested $500,000 in restitution but received $7,000.