Fourth Young Man Convicted in Murder of the Mother of 14

The last of four young men to stand trial for the fatal shooting of a Vietnamese mother of 14 during a robbery was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder.

Only the alleged gunman in the May 5, 1986, slaying of 46-year-old Huen Thi Hoang is still at large.

Tien Van Nguyen of Garden Grove was found guilty Wednesday after about a day of jury deliberation. If Nguyen is 20 years old, as the prosecution alleges, he faces a sentence of 25 years to life in prison. But his attorney, Julian W. Bailey, contends that Nguyen is only 14, which means he probably would be sent to the California Youth Authority until his 25th birthday.

Two accomplices, ages 12 and 13 at the time, were convicted of murder in July. A third, 17-year-old Dung Nguyen, pleaded guilty to murder charges in September. All three are serving sentences at the California Youth Authority.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jill W. Roberts, who has prosecuted all the defendants, said the fifth suspect is 14-year-old Sau Van Le. He was identified by the other defendants as the one who fired the gun.

Roberts told Nguyen’s jury that the armed gang of robbers had crouched outside the Santa Ana home late at night and had masked themselves with scarfs and T-shirts.

One of them pointed a gun at a daughter as she arrived home, and forced her into the house. The robbers then gathered the children and their father in the living room, according to testimony. But Mrs. Hoang was in her bedroom praying.

The defendants’ statements indicate that the gunman said he shot her by accident when she startled him.

Under the felony murder rule, those involved in a robbery in which someone is killed can be charged with murder.

Nguyen is scheduled to be sentenced May 1 before Superior Court Judge William W. Bedsworth.