A teenager, the mastermind in the killing of his classmate early this year, has been sentenced to life in prison for intentional homicide, according to a court in Handan, Hebei province on Monday.

The Handan Intermediate People's Court has deprived the defendant surnamed Zhang of political rights for life.

The killing also involved two other minor defendants. One identified surnamed Li, who committed the crime together with Zhang, has been given a 12-year imprisonment sentence for the same charge, while the other surnamed Ma has been ordered to receive special rehabilitation instead of criminal punishment because he did not directly commit the crime.

All three criminals and the victim were 13 years old when the killing took place and are all from Feixiang district in Handan.

Since the case happened in March, it has aroused widespread public attention, putting the issue of juvenile crime in the national spotlight once again.

In a statement posted by the court on Monday, Zhang and Li had conflicts with their classmate surnamed Wang and planned to kill him multiple times and split his money.

In the lead up to the crime, Zhang chose an abandoned vegetable greenhouse in the district as the crime site where he took shovels ahead of time to dig a pit ?for the offense.

On the afternoon of March 10, Zhang asked Wang to accompany them, and the duo rode on Zhang's bike while Li and Ma went together. The four went to the designated greenhouse and while on the way, under Zhang's instructions, Li shared the idea of the killing with Ma.

After the four boys arrived at the destination, Zhang began attacking Wang with the shovels, while Li was responsible for helping control Wang. In the midst of the attack, Ma left the greenhouse and Zhang and Li continued with the act by beating Wang to death. They buried Wang's body in the greenhouse and subsequently fled the scene by bikes.

Later, Zhang divided the money in Wang's mobile phone with Li, and asked Ma and Li to smash the phone and throw it away.

Upon realizing that Wang was missing, his family reported the matter to the police. During the investigation, Ma first confessed to the offense and guided the police to the crime scene.

"The behaviors of Zhang and Li have constituted the crime of intentional homicide, with extremely serious circumstances and particularly cruel criminal means," the court said. "The two were aged between 12 and 14 while committing the crime, meaning that they could be held criminally liable in line with Criminal Law."

"Zhang should be identified as the main culprit in the case because he not only proposed and prepared for the killing but also asked others to join in and committed the crime," it said. "Li also played an important role, as he actively participated in the killing and carried it out with Zhang, and he also shared the victim's money after the offense."

"Considering Ma did not take part in the planning of the crime and did not directly harm the victim, we did not criminally punish him in accordance with the law but decided to order him to receive special education and rehabilitation from public security and educational departments."