CHANGCHUN - A car thief in Northeast China's Jilin province has been sentenced to death for strangling a two-month-old baby to death after stealing a vehicle with the infant inside, a local court announced Monday.

Thousands of people gather in a square in Changchun city, Jilin province, on Tuesday night to mourn the case of a baby who was murdered by a thief who found the boy sleeping in a car he had stolen. [Photo by Fang Xinwu/Asianewsphoto]

The Changchun Intermediate People's Court announced in its verdict that Zhou Xijun, 48, was sentenced to death and deprived of his political rights for life for the murder he committed.

Zhou was also sentenced to five years in jail and fined 50,000 yuan ($8,065) for the crime of stealing, according to the verdict.

He is required to give the family of the baby 17,098.50 yuan to compensate for economic losses.

On March 4, Zhou stole an SUV parked by the side of a road in Changchun, capital of Jilin province, and drove it onto a highway.

After finding the baby in the back seat of the vehicle, Zhou strangled the infant and buried him in the snow.

He turned himself in a day after massive searches for the baby and the thief were launched by police and the public.