College student Angelina Tran allegedly stabbed more than 100 times by stepfather
An engineering student at the University of Washington was fatally stabbed more than 100 times as she tried to protect her mother from her enraged stepfather.
Angelina Tran, 21, awoke early on August 7 after hearing sounds of a struggle in her family’s home in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Seattle.
Her stepfather Nghiep Kein Chau, 54, had punched her mother at least 12 times in the kitchen, according to charging documents.
Tran quickly decided to step in, prosecutors say, at which point Chau began attacking both women.
Eventually, her mother was able to escape and fled to call 911 while Tran held Chau back, in a desperate attempt to prevent him from following her.
The two struggled and fell to the floor, when Chau allegedly grabbed a knife and fatally stabbed Tran a total 107 times.
He stopped the stabbing spree several times during the rampage, the charging documents say, including once to change his clothes and another to grab a different knife.
Home security footage also showed Chau searching for Tran’s mother after she called the police, the Seattle Times reported.
Officers finally arrived shortly before 5 a.m., and found the unidentified woman bleeding from injuries to her face.
They also found Chau, still holding the knife with blood on his clothes, before he allegedly admitted: “I killed somebody.”
Chau was immediately taken into custody, and later told police he had been “bickering” with his wife, with whom he had been married 19 years.
Through an interpreter, Chau allegedly told how he hit Tran’s mother because he thought she was going to divorce him and take his money.
He also said he became angry when Tran intervened, the charging documents say, and claimed he would have killed his wife if he had found her before the cops arrived.
Officers then obtained search warrants and seized evidence from the home, including home security footage prosecutors say showed the initial assault and much of the stabbing.
Chau is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder. He is being held at the King County Correctional Facility on $5 million bond after prosecutors argued he was a flight risk and a danger to the community.
An arraignment scheduled for Wednesday has been pushed back to Aug. 31.
Meanwhile, Tran’s friends and family have set up a fundraiser for the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging in the engineering major’s memory.
“The pain of her absence is profound as she was a gem of a human being. The impact she had on all those fortunate enough to know her was significant,” it reads.
“Her radiant smile was a source of immense joy, and though the ache of her loss is deep, we believe Angelina would want us to stand strong and keep our smiles bright.”
All donations will go to the nonprofit “reflecting Angelina’s spirit and her commitment to making a difference in the lives of elderly individuals.”