Second suspect in fatal O.C. nightclub beating to be arraigned today
A second woman arrested in the fatal beating of a woman outside a Santa Ana nightclub is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.
Candace Marie Brito, 27, of Santa Ana is facing one count of murder in the Jan. 19 beating that left 23-year-old Kim Pham dead.
Brito is one of three women suspected in the melee, which has captured national attention and prompted Santa Ana civic leaders to defend the city’s historic downtown as a safe area.
Vanesa Tapia Zavala, a 25-year-old mother and Santa Ana resident, pleaded not guilty to murder last week. She is being held in lieu of $1-million bail.
Authorities said they are looking for a third female suspect.
Police and city leaders last week said they didn’t consider Pham’s death a hate crime, and the mayor of the predominantly Latino city urged Vietnamese American residents to remain calm. Orange County’s sprawling Vietnamese American community has steadily expanded over the years into Santa Ana.
“We don’t see this as a hate or gang crime,” Mayor Miguel Pulido said, describing the altercation as “an isolated incident.”
Pham, 23, of Huntington Beach was removed from life support three days after the beating. Coroner’s officials concluded her death was due to complications from blunt-force trauma to the head.
Details of what exactly occurred that night have remained murky. Police said Pham and a group of friends were entering the Crosby, a restaurant and nightclub, as a group of five people was leaving.
As the groups crossed paths, there was some sort of physical contact that led to an argument and then a fight, Santa Ana Police Chief Carlos Rojas said.
“Three people at various times, depending on what video you look at, were involved physically with Ms. Pham,” Rojas said. “While there was a physical altercation, we don’t know what precipitated it.”
One of Pham’s friends, who was not at the nightclub, said the argument may have started after she accidentally walked into a group while a photo was being taken.
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