Philadelphia

‘I Forgive Him': Grieving Mom Speaks on Man Accused of Killing Her Son

“I pray for him,” Huong Le said of her son’s alleged killer. “And I forgive him."

Huong Le recalled the final moments she had with her youngest son at his bedside in the hospital.

“I touched his hand and his hand opened for me,” she said. “I hold him. I hold him a lot.”

Huong’s son, 29-year-old Temple University graduate John Le, was shot and killed outside an apartment building in Haverford Township back on July 29. The day of her son’s murder, Huong was praying inside a nearby Catholic church. She told NBC10 she remembers seeing emergency crews rush past her as she drove home. She later learned they were responding to her own son’s shooting.

Derrick Rollins, 24, of Philadelphia, was arrested in Georgia in August and charged in Le’s murder after a manhunt that involved police departments in two counties as well as the US Marshals. Police say Rollins randomly targeted Le, shooting him twice and taking his cellphone, which investigators say he later used. Police also say Rollins fired 17 shots at a group in Philadelphia’s Overbrook Park section, injuring two men, 20 minutes before he killed Le.

On Wednesday Rollins was arraigned on first-degree murder charges. He is also charged with aggravated assault, robbery and firearms offenses. He was quiet as officials led him from Haverford Township Police headquarters to his arraignment.

“I pray for him,” Huong Le said of her son’s alleged killer. “And I forgive him. I just want to miss John. I just want to, my son is still alive. That’s why, because I miss him every day.”

Le was the youngest of Huong’s three sons. A family member described him as “his mom’s baby.”

Huong told NBC10 she’s relieved Rollins was charged in her son’s death though she holds no anger toward him.

“I’m not angry at anybody,” she said. “I just miss my son. That’s all.”

Rollins is currently being held without bail.

Contact Us