March 30, 2010
Orange County District Attorney's Office
WESTMINSTER - A member of an Asian criminal street gang and a female gang associate have been charged with murdering a woman by dragging her several blocks with her hanging outside their car and attempting to murder her boyfriend by shooting at him as he followed behind in his car. Christopher Dai-Ichi Yu, 18, Fountain Valley, and Lynn Ai Quach, 19, Garden Grove, are each charged with one felony count of special circumstances murder during the commission of a robbery and for a criminal street gang purpose and one felony count of attempted murder with a sentencing enhancement for criminal street gang activity. Yu is also charged with street terrorism and a sentencing enhancement for the personal discharge of a firearm. Quach faces an additional sentencing enhancement for the vicarious discharge of a firearm by a gang member.
If convicted, Yu and Quach face a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The defendants are being held without bail and are expected to be arraigned today, Tuesday, March 30, 2010, at 1:30 p.m. at the West Justice Center in Westminster. The Department is to be determined.
On March 27, 2010, Yu and Quach are accused of arranging to meet 38-year-old Tuyet Thi Huynh with the intention of robbing her under the false pretense of selling her drugs. At approximately 11:30 p.m., the defendants are accused of meeting the victim in a parking lot at Russell Paris Park in Westminster. Huynh approached the defendants car, where Quach was in the driver's seat and Yu was in the front passenger's seat. Huynh's 36-year-old boyfriend, Truong Pham, waited for the victim in his car.
When the victim approached the passenger window of the defendants' car holding cash, Yu is accused of grabbing the cash from Huynh's hand. Huynh's purse became tangled on the car and Huynh's arm was tangled in the purse. Quach is accused of beginning to drive away and Huynh was dragged for almost a mile until she fell from the outside of the car and landed on the road. A witness stopped to help her and called 9-1-1.
The victim's boyfriend attempted to follow Yu and Quach in his car and called 9-1-1. Yu is accused of attempting to murder Pham by shooting at his car with a firearm as he followed behind the defendants. A passing Orange County Sheriff's Deputy observed the two speeding vehicles and performed a traffic stop of the defendants' car.
The deputy detained Yu and Quach, who were arrested shortly thereafter by responding officers from the Westminster Police Department (WPD). At the time of their arrest, Yu and Quach are accused of being in possession of a firearm and Huynh's purse inside their car.
Huynh was transported to the hospital and was later pronounced dead due to head trauma from being dragged and falling from the car. She did not sustain any gunshot injuries.
WPD investigated this case. Deputy District Attorney Daniel Feldman of the TARGET Unit is prosecuting this case.
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