On a Saturday morning in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the life of 39-year-old Asian woman Bao Yang was tragically cut short in a violent act that concluded a long period of fear and harassment. On March 20, 2021, police responded to a call about a shooting and found Yang and her ex-boyfriend, 39-year-old Doua Por Lao, with gunshot wounds outside her home on Montana Avenue East. Yang, a dedicated nurse and mother of two, was rushed to a local hospital but did not survive her injuries.
Lao was pronounced dead at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Investigators recovered a shotgun and a handgun from the scene, concluding the incident was a murder-suicide.
The events of that day were the culmination of a harrowing ordeal for Yang, who had been in a relationship with Lao that ended in July 2019. In the months and years that followed, Lao subjected her to a relentless campaign of terror. Court documents and police records detail a disturbing history of abuse. In August 2019, Yang reported to police that Lao had sexually assaulted her and shaved her head. Despite an arrest, Yang later decided not to pursue charges, reportedly fearing that doing so would only make the situation worse. This was not an isolated incident; St. Paul police had been called to Yang's home at least 14 times in the eight months leading up to her death to investigate incidents of harassment.
In the month before her murder, Yang took legal steps to protect herself and her family, filing for an order for protection against Lao. She reported that he had sent nude photos of her to her ex-husband and had made numerous threats of sextortion and harm if she did not get back together with him. Lao was arrested on suspicion of felony criminal sexual conduct and dissemination of private sexual images but was released on bond on March 1, 2021. Despite the protection order and his recent arrest, Lao continued to harass Yang, with calls being made to the police just days before her death. The suspect, Doua Por Lao, was a registered level-three sex offender with a prior conviction for second-degree sexual assault of a child in Wisconsin.
