The 38-year-old Pennsylvania mom drove to New Jersey for heroin in an attempt to kill herself after shooting her two sons, Jeffrey "JT" and Nelson Tini, in their Upper Makefield home on Monday, May 2, Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said.
All of it was planned, said Weintraub, noting the family had been given an eviction notice for Tuesday, May 3.
But things exactly didn't go as planned, for Nguyen, who was captured around 11:30 a.m. and lived.
Her sons, on the other hand, died on May 6, and their mom's charges were subsequently upgraded Monday, May 9 to first-degree murder, Weintraub's office said.
“I have been praying for these boys and their surviving family for days,” Weintraub said. “I am so sad to hear of their passing. This defendant’s murder of two of her sons is unconscionable and horrific. We will do what needs to be done to seek justice for all of them.”
A raid of Nguyen's home turned up a handwritten will dated April 25, instructing the recipient on what to do with her and her sons' remains, detectives said.
A search of her minivan turned up heroin, blood, .38-caliber ammunition, and a note that read “Please call 911! My children are Dead in their bed at 119 Timber Ridge Rd 18940," the DA's office said.
After shooting her sons, Nguyen went outside and pointed the same black revolver at her 22-year-old neighbor, who tried handing her a box of photos for her ex-husband, who he worked with, authorities said.
Nguyen pulled the trigger two times, but the gun did not fire, the DA said. The neighbor wrapped Nguyen in a bear hug and eventually disarmed her, authorities said.
That's when she fled in her white Toyota Sienna minivan, apparently to buy the drugs she used in her suicide attempt.
This case is being investigated by Bucks County Detectives and Upper Makefield Township Police. First Assistant District Attorney Jennifer M. Schorn and Deputy District Attorney John T. Fegley are assigned for prosecution.
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