A Pennsylvania woman pleaded guilty to murdering her two sons, an act she committed ahead of being evicted.
Trinh Nguyen, 40, pleaded guilty on 20 December to two counts of first-degree murder. She admitted to shooting her sons, 9-year-old Nelson Tini and 13-year-old Jeffrey Tini, on 2 May 2022 in their bedrooms, according to Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
The boys died at the hospital four days after the shooting.
Detectives discovered that she plotted her sons’ killings a week in advance.
The mother left a handwritten will — dated 25 April, 2022 — “that instructed the recipient of what to do with her and her sons’ remains,” the DA’s office wrote.
Nguyen also pleaded guilty to one count of attempted murder after she tried to shoot her neighbor, who was the cousin of her children.
Security footage captured the mother pointing a firearm at Gianni Melchiondo, her neighbour and the nephew of her ex-husband, the DA’s office said. Although she tried to shoot her neighbour, the gun didn’t fire, allowing him to disarm her.
The neighbours’ aunt testified, “I thank the Lord all the time that the gun misfired.”
Nguyen faces two life sentences — without the possibility of parole.
“It’s clear our evidence showed that this defendant had that wickedness of disposition that she had made these plans,” First Assistant DA Jen Schorn said. “She wrote a manifesto laying out what she was going to do, and you could see throughout the hate she had for others and the people she blamed.”
The DA’s office noted that Nguyen had been given an eviction notice, and was supposed to vacate her residence on 3 May 2022, the day after the fatal shooting.
After committing the shooting, authorities said, the mother fled to New Jersey to “obtain narcotics, which she ingested to try and kill herself.”
In other writings, Ms Schorn said Nguyen exhibited a “simmering rage,” blaming others for the problems in her life, including the upcoming eviction.
