Woman Stabbed More Than 100 Times Defending Mother From Stepfather

A young woman was stabbed more than 100 times after she stepped in to protect her mother from her stepfather, authorities said.

Angelina Tran, a 21-year-old student at the University of Washington, was apparently awoken in the early hours of August 7 after hearing sounds of a struggle in her home in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Seattle, according to charging documents.

Video footage from security cameras showed her stepfather Nghiep Kein Chau, 54, punched Tran's mother at least a dozen times in their kitchen, according to the documents reviewed by Newsweek.

When Tran intervened, Chau struck both women, according to the documents. Tran's mother was able to escape and call 911 while Tran held on to Chau to stop him from following her, the documents say.

They struggled and fell to the floor and then Chau grabbed a knife from a kitchen drawer and started stabbing Tran, according to the documents. She "continued to try and fight [Chau] off, and at times turned her back toward him, resulting in her getting stabbed in the back."

Chau has been charged with first-degree murder in Tran's death and first-degree attempted murder for injuries to his wife.

Tran's mother answered the door when police arrived at the home at around 4:55 a.m., according to the court documents.

Chau came down the stairs and confronted officers while holding a large bloody kitchen knife, the documents said. "I killed somebody," he told the officers. He dropped the knife when ordered to do so and officers then took him into custody.

Through an interpreter, he later told police he had been "bickering" with his wife about money. The couple were in a relationship for 19 years and married last year, according to the documents.

Chau said he hit her multiple times in the face because he was angry and thought she would divorce him and take his money. He also said he became angry with Tran for blocking him from hitting her mother, and said he would have killed his wife if he had found her before police arrived.

Officers obtained search warrants and seized evidence including video files from the home's security camera system. Investigators said the footage showed the initial assault on Tran's mother and most of the stabbing.

According to the documents, Chau stabbed Tran at least 107 times in the torso. He stopped the attack several times, including to change his clothes, grab a different knife and search the house, apparently for Tran's mother.

Tran's family and friends have set up a fundraiser for the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging in Tran's memory.

"The pain of her absence is profound as she was a gem of a human being. The impact she had on all those fortunate enough to know her was significant," Hai-Trieu Tran wrote on the GoFundMe page. "Her radiant smile was a source of immense joy, and though the ache of her loss is deep, we believe Angelina would want us to stand strong and keep our smiles bright."

All donations will go to the nonprofit, the post said, "reflecting Angelina's spirit and her commitment to making a difference in the lives of elderly individuals."

Newsweek reached out to the organizer for comment.

Online records show Chau is being held at the King County Correctional Facility on $5 million bail. Prosecutors argued he was a flight risk and a danger to the community.

An arraignment scheduled for Wednesday was postponed to August 31 because Chau is "medically unavailable," a spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office told Newsweek.

Newsweek reached out to attorneys for Chau via email for comment.

Update 08/24/23, 9:06 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office and additional information.