A manhunt across southeast Pennsylvania came to a tragic end on Monday afternoon with a mother behind bars and two school-aged boys on the verge of death.
In a Monday afternoon news conference, Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub said that Trinh T. Nguyen, 38, of Upper Makefield Township, was arrested and charged with shooting and critically wounding her sons, the Bucks County Courier Times reports. Nguyen’s charges will likely be upgraded to homicide because her sons, ages 9 and 13, are not expected to survive and are only being kept alive to facilitate organ donation, Weintraub said.
According to a press release, the incident unfolded Monday morning when local police were notified of a startling altercation between the mother and her neighbor.
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Gianni Melchiondo, 22, was awoken by the sound of gunshots, Weintraub said. When Melchiondo went outside to investigate, he claims Nguyen approached him in the shared yard of their luxury duplexes and gave him a box of pictures to pass along to her ex-husband, who works with Melchiondo. She then pulled a gun and tried to fire but—“by the grace of God,” Weintraub said—the gun didn’t go off and the neighbor was able to wrest the weapon from Nguyen, who then fled, Weintraub said.
When police arrived, they entered Nguyen’s house with the neighbor’s mother, who knew young boys lived in the home, the press release said. First responders found the boys in their beds—both had been shot in the head as they slept. Evidence inside the home also indicated that Nguyen had tried to kill herself, Weintraub said.
The Courier Times reviewed court documents that revealed Nguyen had a recent history of domestic and financial turmoil. She was set to be evicted from her five-bedroom duplex by Tuesday if she didn’t voluntarily vacate. The documents reveal that she owed the homeowner, her ex-sister-in-law, at least $11,500 in rent, which a judge ordered her to pay in December. Nguyen continued living in the home after her ex-husband moved out; court documents reveal the couple divorced in October.
A lawyer involved in the dispute wrote to Nguyen in September warning her that she could face legal ramifications if she continued navigating the dispute with “threatening and verbally abusive behavior.”
Weintraub said the two boys have different fathers; one was by his son’s hospital bed on Monday evening and the other had yet to be located.
The shocking incident sparked a brief manhunt on Monday afternoon, with police issuing a notice for the community to keep watch for Nguyen, who fled in a white 2018 Toyota Sienna. According to the Courier Times, a nearby church spotted a matching vehicle in their parking lot and called the cops. Police say they found Nguyen under the influence of unspecified drugs at the church around 11:30 a.m.
In an email to parents of children at Newtown Middle School, which at least one of the boys attended, Principal Timothy Long said, “We are all greatly saddened by the tragic event that occurred within our school community today. Such tragedy is always difficult to process for all of us, especially for our children.”
“I have two kids, and this couldn’t hit any closer to home” Weintraub said at the afternoon press conference. “I’ve kept saying my prayers since I got the call this morning.”
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