SEATTLE — King County prosecutors on Monday charged a 54-year-old Seattle man with stabbing his stepdaughter over 100 times, killing her, after she stepped in to defend her mother as he repeatedly punched her.
Nghiep Kein Chau is accused of trying to kill his wife in their Beacon Hill home Aug. 7 before fatally stabbing his stepdaughter, 21-year-old University of Washington student Angelina Tran. Chau faces a first-degree murder charge in Tran’s death and a first-degree attempted murder charge for his spouse’s injuries.
Loved ones have organized a fundraiser for the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging in Tran’s memory, considering her passion for helping elders.
“The pain of her absence is profound as she was a gem of a human being,” reads the fundraiser, an effort to continue her legacy of care and compassion. “The impact she had on all those fortunate enough to know her was significant.”
Chau had been in a relationship with Tran’s mother for 19 years and knew Tran most of her life, according to court documents.
Early on the morning of Aug. 7, Chau punched Tran’s mother over a dozen times in their kitchen as she tried to flee, according to the home’s security footage, obtained by Seattle police.
Tran intervened, but Chau continued his assault by hitting both women, according to court documents. Tran’s mother was able to flee and call 911 as Tran held on to Chau to prevent him from following, the documents say.
They fell and wrestled on the floor before Chau grabbed a knife and repeatedly stabbed Tran — stopping several times and changing his clothes and weapon, according to court documents.
Footage then shows him search the house for Tran’s mother, who ultimately answered the door when police arrived shortly before 5 a.m. after Tran’s mother called, documents say.
Chau confronted officers inside the house while still holding a kitchen knife, which he eventually dropped, documents say. Police took him into custody.
Chau, through an interpreter, later told a detective he had been “bickering” with his wife and said he hit her because “he was angry” and thought she would divorce him and take his money, according to court documents.
He also told the detective he became angry with Tran for intervening and blocking him from her mother, who he said he was trying to find and kill before police arrived, according to court documents.
Chau is being held on $5 million bail after prosecutors argued he displayed irrational and extremely violent tendencies and classified him as a flight risk. He’s scheduled to be arraigned today.
Tran’s stabbing death is one of 43 homicides so far this year in Seattle, according to preliminary data compiled by The Seattle Times with information from police, prosecutors and the medical examiner.
As of this time last year, there had been 37 homicides in Seattle; 2022 ended with 53 homicides, according to the Times’ database.
