A mother accused of shooting and killing her two sons has pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said.
Trinh Nguyen was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole and a consecutive 10–20 year sentence for the attempted killing of a neighbor.
Nguyen was accused of shooting her two sons, ages 13 and 9, while they were in bed inside an Upper Makefield Township home in May of 2022.
On that same day in 2022, a man told police that his neighbor, 38-year-old Nguyen, spoke with him earlier that day. She had handed him a box of photos and asked him to give the box to her ex-husband who he worked with, investigators said.
Get Philly local news, weather forecasts, sports and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia newsletters.
The man then said she pointed a black revolver at his face and pulled the trigger twice. The gun did not fire however, police said.
The man managed to disarm Nguyen who fled the scene and was later found and arrested in the parking lot of a church in Washington Crossing.
An investigation into Nguyen showed that her and the father of her youngest son had gotten married in 2015. That same year, the father accused Nguyen of fleeing from their home with their child, who was a toddler at the time, and traveling to Texas, telling him she wouldn’t return.
Six years later in 2021, divorce proceedings between Nguyen and her husband began. According to court documents, the couple agreed to split the value of a Philadelphia home. Nguyen was to be paid $220,000 and granted monthly support payments. In addition to shared custody, a judge also granted Nguyen’s request to take their son to Vietnam every other summer.
In July 2021, Nguyen returned to court, accusing her ex-husband of not complying and failing to get a passport for their child. Attorneys for her ex-husband responded by stating Nguyen had no income and had only recently begun to work by selling eyelashes online. They also said she had been evicted from the home she rented from her ex-husband’s sister.
The attorneys described Nguyen as a flight risk and kidnapper. They also feared she would flee to Vietnam and not return her son to his father amid the hefty divorce payout.
Documents also showed Nguyen owed $11,000 in back rent to her ex-sister-in-law. Her eviction date was set for May 2, a day after she allegedly shot her two children.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org or texting LOVEIS to 22522.
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox.
