Astrid Fung, 4, Asian female, was with her grandparents in a North Austin Target parking lot on August 11, 2025, when an ordinary afternoon unraveled into horror. Police later named her alongside her grandfather, 65-year-old Adam Chow, and Target employee Rosa Martinez Machuca as the three people killed. Friends and family described Astrid as a joyful child who filled classrooms and playdates with laughter; the city learned her name through a verified fundraiser that rallied support for funeral
and memorial costs while her family tried to make sense of the senseless.
Investigators say the violence began in the store lot at 8601 Research Boulevard, where the gunman first shot Martinez Machuca as she gathered shopping carts. He then ran toward Chow’s SUV, firing into the driver’s seat and the back seat where Astrid sat. Chow’s wife managed to pull the child from the car in a desperate attempt to save her, but both Astrid and her grandfather were fatally wounded. The attacker shoved the grandmother aside, stole the 4Runner and sped off, leaving sirens and stunned shoppers in his wake.
What followed was a chaotic spree across the city—crashes, assaults, attempted carjackings—before officers found a 32-year-old suspect, Ethan Nieneker, in South Austin. According to police and news reports, he was naked, holding a Bible and claiming to be Jesus when he was taken into custody after resisting commands and being subdued with a stun gun. Nieneker was initially booked on two counts of capital murder and one count of murder, with police signaling more charges tied to the assaults and property damage; within days, jail records reflected five additional felonies, including attempted murder, aggravated robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. His total bond was ultimately set in the multimillion-dollar range, and a judge ordered a mental-health evaluation as the case moved forward.
As candles flickered online and in living rooms, the community’s grief fastened itself to memories: a devoted grandfather who “dedicated his life to loving God and loving others,” and a little girl who “brought joy, laughter, and light to everyone she touched.” The fundraiser organized for the Chow-Fung family swelled quickly, an outpouring of compassion in the face of randomness; local remembrances gathered photographs and tributes, stitching together a portrait of lives that mattered.
