Hundreds crowd memorial for nightclub victim Kim Pham

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Vanesa Zavala, center, and Candace Brito, left, shown in a Santa Ana courtroom, were each sentenced to six years in prison for the beating death of 23-year-old Kim Pham outside a trendy Santa Ana nightclub. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Candace Brito, left, fights to hold back tears in a Santa Ana courtroom, where she was sentenced with Vanesa Zavala, right, to six years in prison. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Vanesa Zavala, right, and Candace Brito, left, were each sentenced to six years in prison for the beating death of Kim Pham. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Friends and family react after two women are convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the death of 23-year-old Kim Pham after a brawl outside a Santa Ana nightclub. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Dung Pham, the father of beating victim Kim Pham, addresses the media following the sentencing of Vanesa Zavala and Candace Brito. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Defendants Candace Brito, left, and Vanesa Zavala enter a Santa Ana courtroom July 22, when attorneys began closing arguments in the case against the women who are facing charges relating to the beating death of 23-year-old Annie Kim Pham. (Joshua Sudock / Associated Press)

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Candace Brito, left, and Vanesa Zavala enter court for their trial in Santa Ana on July 9. (Mark Rightmire / Associated Press)

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Suspects Vanesa Tapia Zavala, left, and Candace Marie Brito attend a preliminary hearing in the beating death of Kim Pham. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas J. Borris in court. On screen is a video of the Kim Pham beating -- one of several pieces of evidence presented during the first day of a preliminary hearing for Candace Marie Brito and Vanesa Tapia Zavala, who are facing charges in Pham’s death. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Attorney Kenneth Alan Reed, left, sits next to his client Vanesa Tapia Zavala, second from left, and Michael Molfetta sits next to his client, Candace Marie Brito, during their preliminary hearing in the beating death of Kim Pham. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Vanesa Tapia Zavala arrives for a preliminary hearing at the West Justice Center in Westminster. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Candace Marie Brito arrives for a preliminary hearing at the West Justice Center in Westminster. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Defense attorneys Kenneth Alan Reed, left, and Michael Molfetta meet with reporters outside of the West Justice Center in Westminster after their clients, Vanesa Tapia Zavala and Candace Marie Brito, were ordered to stand trial on murder charges in the beating death of Kim Pham. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Troy Pino meets with reporters outside of the West Justice Center in Westminster after a judge ruled that Candace Marie Brito and Vanesa Tapia Zavala will stand trial in the murder of Kim Pham. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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The family of Kim Pham exits the West Justice Center in Westminster. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Dung Pham prays for his daughter, Annie Hung “Kim” Pham, 23, of Huntington Beach, during a memorial Mass for her at Blessed Sacrament Church in Westminster. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Mourners hold flowers and a portrait of Kim Pham as they watch pallbearers carry Pham’s casket after a memorial Mass at Blessed Sacrament Church in Westminster on Tuesday. The family later took the urn with Kim’s remains to place next to her mother’s urn at Melrose Abbey in Anaheim. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Pallbearers carry Kim Pham’s casket in Westminster on Tuesday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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The funeral Mass for Kim Pham was held Tuesday at Blessed Sacrament Church in Westminster. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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A mourner pauses near the hearse outside Blessed Sacrament Church in Westminster on Tuesday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Mourners embrace after the memorial Mass for Kim Pham at Blessed Sacrament Church in Westminster on Tuesday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Friends and family pay their respects as they attend a public viewing of Annie Hung “Kim” Pham at Brothers of St. Patrick in Midway City on Monday. Pham was beaten to death outside the Crosby Bar and Nightclub in Santa Ana. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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A couple embrace as they pay their respects at a public viewing of Kim Pham at Brothers of St. Patrick in Midway City on Monday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Candles, incense and flowers surround a portrait of Kim Pham displayed during a public viewing at Brothers of St. Patrick in Midway City on Monday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Friends of Kim Pham, 23, who was beaten to death outside the Crosby nightclub in downtown Santa Ana, embrace at the scene and memorial where she was attacked Wednesday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Friends and family have left a large memorial for Kim Pham, 23, who was beaten to death outside the Crosby nightclub in downtown Santa Ana. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

By Anh Do

Jan. 28, 2014 5:11 PM PT

Hundreds of people poured into a memorial service Tuesday for the 23-year-old woman who was fatally kicked and beaten as she waited to get into a Santa Ana nightclub with friends.

Just miles away, authorities charged a second woman with murder in the beating death. But at Blessed Sacrament Church in Westminster and a cremation service in Anaheim that followed, the thoughts and prayers of mourners were focused on Kim Pham.

“The departed ones are strong. Those who remain are weaker, our hearts still shocked and sad,” said Bao Trung Nguyen, Pham’s second cousin.

“One of my happiest memories is how my son lights up every time Kim is around,” said Jason Nguyen, her stepbrother. “I always try to have a tough-guy mentality, be the protector of our family, but she was the one who taught me how to let down my guard and to share something beautiful.”

Many who gathered at the memorial said they believe they should forgive those responsible for Pham’s death, so that their lives may be less burdened.

Later, gathered at Melrose Abbey Memorial Park & Mortuary in Anahiem, Pham’s husband led the pallbearers as they carried the casket to a room for cremation. Her father walked ahead of the procession, clutching a bouquet of ivory-colored flowers.

“God has called Teresa Annie Kim Pham back to him,” a priest intoned into a microphone, using the woman’s saint name.

Dung Pham, the victim’s father, said he was touched by the generosity of friends and strangers.

Several people volunteered to videotape Pham’s memorial service as a keepsake. Others offered to provide grief counseling to the family. Pham’s co-workers at the Ink Press, a printing business in Garden Grove, said they would donate proceeds to help cover funeral costs. Access Media, the publisher behind the “Melting Pot of Thoughts” anthology which published Pham’s essays, plan a tribute event for her.

And a Facebook page, Justice for Kim Pham, has garnered 28,000 likes so far.

“We focus on forgiveness,” said Tram Doan, Pham’s stepmother. “Everyone’s life has value.”

Anh.do@latimes.com