On a summer afternoon in Portland, Oregon, the life of a 46-year-old Asian woman named Thang Lilly Nguyen came to a tragic and violent end. It was July 25, 1993, and gunshots echoed through the 1400 block of SE Belmont shortly after noon. A neighbor, hearing the alarming sounds, discovered Nguyen, the owner of a video rental store at 1403 SE Belmont, lying on the sidewalk in front of her business. She was bleeding profusely from gunshot wounds. In her final moments, she managed to utter the haunting words, "They killed me, they killed me." Emergency services were called, and she was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she ultimately succumbed to her injuries.
The investigation that followed painted a picture of a senseless crime that left a community in shock. Nguyen was remembered by her family and neighbors as a kind and non-confrontational person, someone who would have readily given up her possessions in a robbery. Investigators believe a robbery may have been the motive, as her purse was thought to be missing. Her last words strongly suggested the involvement of more than one individual in her murder.
Witnesses reported seeing two young Asian males running from the vicinity around the time of the shooting. Another witness had observed two young Asian men standing by the door of the video store earlier that day. A white midsize vehicle was also potentially linked to the suspects. Despite these leads and the passage of time, no arrests have ever been made in connection with the murder of Thang Lilly Nguyen. Her case remains an unsolved homicide, a painful open wound for her family and the community she was a part of. The identities of the men who ended her life on that July day remain a mystery.
