Pennsylvania mother gets consecutive life sentences for killing two sons

BUCKS COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM)– The Pennsylvania mother who fatally shot her two young sons in May 2022 was sentenced to spend consecutive life sentences in prison.

The Bucks County District Attorney said in a news release that 40-year-old Trinh Nguyen was sentenced Wednesday by Common Pleas Judge Raymond F. McHugh after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and related charges.

She was also sentenced to spend between 10 and 20 years for attempted murder.

The sentences “will ensure that the defendant will die within the four walls of a correctional facility,” First Assistant District Attorney Jen Schorn said after the hearing.

Nguyen shot and killed her two sons, 9-year-old Nelson Tini and 13-year-old Jeffrey Tini, before she tried shooting a neighbor who was able to disarm her when the gun didn’t fire. Nguyen’s interaction with the neighbor was an act that was called “nothing short of remarkable,” by prosecutors, the news release states.

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A manifesto was found by detectives at the home, along Timber Ridge Road in Upper Makefield Township, after the shooting where Nguyen wrote about her plan to kill her sons and what to do with their and her remains. It was also discovered that she was facing imminent eviction within the upcoming days.

“It’s clear our evidence showed that this defendant had that wickedness of disposition that she had made these plans,” Schorn said. “She wrote a manifesto laying out what she was going to do, and you could see throughout the hate she had for others and the people she blamed.”

Family and friends delivered emotional remarks during Nguyen’s sentencing about the deaths of the two boys, who were described as being loved by all.

Upper Makefield Township Police got a report of an armed subject just after 7 a.m. at the home and rushed there. Nguyen managed to leave the scene in a white minivan after being disarmed before officers arrived, but they were able to put out a be on the lookout notice for her.

The two boys were found with gunshot wounds to the head and were transported to the hospital where they died days later, the release states.

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Nguyen was located by officers in the minivan at a United Methodist Church around 11:30 a.m. and was taken into custody. A loaded gun along with drugs were found in the vehicle. The release states that detectives learned that Nguyen planned to fatally overdose after the shooting.

A note was found that read “ Please call 911! My children are Dead in their bed at 119 Timber Ridge Rd 18940.”

More evidence of Nguyen’s plans was found at the home when detectives served a search warrant.

“I can’t emphasize enough the outstanding work done by this team that resulted in our ability to convict this defendant,” Schorn said.

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