A University of Illinois (U of I) doctoral candidate is facing second-degree murder charges for allegedly stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death Friday in her apartment, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The woman is named Mengchen Huang and she was a 25-year-old U of I student from China. She was stabbed to death Friday in her Urbana apartment and the Champaign County Coroner pronounced her death a homicide.

The lead suspect is Yongfei Ci, a 29-year-old doctoral U of I student also from China, and he is being held on $10 million bail.

Police arrived at the Lincoln Avenue apartment just before 11 a.m. after receiving a 911 call from Huang's roommate, who said he ex-boyfriend had attacked the two. The roommate said Ci forced his way into the apartment and locked her in the bathroom, holding both against their will. She fled the apartment after Ci left.

Police identified the suspect and used his cellphone signal to track him. They found him in a motel and arrested him.

According to a U of I website, Ci, a Chinese citizen, is a sixth-year doctoral student in the school's mathematics department.

Huang was pronounced dead at 11:50 a.m. at her apartment, reported the East Central Illinois News-Gazette.

According to Assistant Champaign County State's Attorney Tim Sullivan, Ci was traveling back from Providence, R.I., where he was taking an additional course at Brown University. He said Ci had returned to Urbana to confront Huang because he thought she had been cheating on him.

He allegedly then used duct tape to tie both women up, locked the roommate in the bathroom and kept Huang in the living room. Huang was found stabbed several times with her throat slit.

The News-Gazette identified the roommate as Xue Yang, who escaped out of the bathroom window and called police through manic crying.

According to Sullivan, Yang did not personally know Ci, but knew of her friend's troubled relationship with him. Yang reportedly said Huang was afraid of her ex-boyfriend.

Ci was located by cellphone data at a local motel. When he saw police arrive, Ci called 911 and said he would surrender without incident and, at 1:20 p.m., he did so. He is expected to be formally charged Monday. Also expected is an autopsy on Huang's body.