A Texas man, Lam Ngoc Tran, has been charged with killing his wife after admitting to using a nail gun to murder her in their home. He then turned the nail gun on himself, shooting himself in the face and wrist in what authorities believe was a failed suicide attempt.
65-year-old Lam Ngoc Tran will spend 40 years in prison for the murder of his wife, 49-year-old My Thai Dang, according to court documents. Tran was sentenced to prison time by Harris County District Judge Veronica M. Nelson, on Thursday.
This is a horrible murder, and it reinforces that the most dangerous time for a battered spouse is when they are trying to leave the relationship, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement following the sentencing hearing. This woman was trying to get away from an abusive husband, and the only reason she is dead is because he could not stand to lose control of her.
According to court documents, on the night of January 10, 2022, police responded to the couple’s home after a man with “slurred speech” and moaning in pain called 911 and requested an ambulance. Upon arrival, first responders forced entry into the home and found Dang in pajamas, lying on the floor in a pool of blood inside the master bedroom. Court documents stated that she had sustained severe injuries to her face and head, and a loose nail was found with what police believed to be blood and human hair beside her.
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Officers found Tran in the living room, suffering from severe injuries to his face and body. A red pneumatic nail gun with a blue hose connected to a compact air compressor was discovered nearby.
According to local reports, Dang filed for divorce against Tran in August 2021, and Tran was formally served on December 18, 2021. Dang’s niece told local reporters that on the day the papers were served, Dang had called her while hiding in her closet “because Mr. Tran was upset about being served.”
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Dang also told her niece that Tran said he planned to “drag out the divorce process for as long as possible” because “shewas not going to divorce him.”
Tran pleaded guilty in May to one count of murder for killing his wife, who had filed for divorce approximately five months prior.
The two were scheduled to appear in court for a show cause hearing regarding a restraining order that Dang had sought against her husband.
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Its crazy that the “justice” system knows this about domestic violence victims trying to leave but have not made an effort to change the process or protect the victims.