On the evening of New Year's Eve, December 31, 2024, Thanh Thi Vu, a 65-year-old Vietnamese-American woman, was working at the My Viet Supermarket in New Orleans East. The store, which she owned with her husband, was a vital part of the local community. Shortly after 6:00 PM, three individuals entered the store with the intent to rob it. They began stealing cigarette cartridges, and when Vu tried to intervene, one of the assailants shot her. The suspects then fled the scene.
Emergency services transported Vu to a local hospital, but she tragically succumbed to her injuries a few days later on January 3, 2025.
The New Orleans Police Department, in collaboration with the U.S. Marshals Service, launched an immediate investigation that quickly led to the identification of three suspects. The first two individuals, 24-year-old Nathaniel K. Carpenter and 27-year-old Adrian Harris, were already in custody at the Orleans Parish Justice Center on unrelated charges when they were booked in connection with Vu's murder. Carpenter was charged with second-degree murder, while Harris was charged as a principal to second-degree murder. Investigators believe that Harris acted as the getaway driver, while Carpenter and the third suspect entered the store.
The third suspect, 25-year-old Anjanau “Henny” Davis, was apprehended later by law enforcement officials in the city's Fifth District. She was also booked into the Orleans Parish Justice Center on a charge of second-degree murder. All three suspects—Nathaniel Carpenter, Anjeno Davis, and Adrienne Harris—were arraigned, and a judge set their bond at $7.5 million each. The case against the accused killers is proceeding through the justice system, with a hearing scheduled for July 18th. The death of Thanh Thi Vu, a beloved mother and grandmother known to some as 'Miss Maria,' sent shockwaves through the tight-knit Vietnamese community of New Orleans East, who gathered for vigils to mourn her loss. In the face of their grief, her family reopened the supermarket less than a month after her death, determined to continue serving the community that she was so much a part of.
