San Diego

A second suspect is now in custody in connection with the Feb. 2 slaying of Huy Tinh Le, 42, who was shot several times during a robbery at a North Park home, police said Wednesday.

Tuan Van Tran, 18, who already was being held on suspicion of three counts of armed robbery, was charged with murder after he was identified Tuesday by witnesses to Le’s slaying. Tran is one of four men arrested Saturday who are believed to be part of a loosely knit group of Indochinese bandits who committed at least four brutal residential robberies of Asian families in Southeast San Diego and Linda Vista beginning last December.

Tho Van Tran, an 18-year-old Hoover High School student unrelated to Tuan Van Tran, was the first suspect arrested in connection with Le’s death. The other two men arrested Saturday on suspicion of armed robbery and possession of illegal weapons are Nghia Hinh, 30, and Hung Van Nguyen, 22. Hinh and Nguyen are also in custody.

Tho Van Tran and Tuan Van Tran both pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murder and robbery charges. San Diego Municipal Judge H. Ronald Domnitz set bail at $500,000 and ordered a review of that bail for Tuesday. They remain in County Jail.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for March 31.

San Diego County Sheriff’s detectives, meanwhile, said they have linked both 18-year-old men to a residential robbery of a Vietnamese family in Spring Valley Saturday.

Sheriff’s Detective Sheila Anderson said Tuan Van Tran and Tho Van Tran were identified Tuesday by victims from Saturday’s Spring Valley holdup.

Le, of the 2900 block of Monarch Street, was killed during a visit at a friend’s home in the 4100 block of Polk Avenue. Three men dressed in black burst into the home at 8:30 p.m., demanding cash and jewelry and threatening family members. When Le came to the aid of the family’s 13-year-old girl, whom the men said they were going to kidnap, he was shot several times.

In the Spring Valley robbery, three men broke into the home in the 8600 block of Noeline Avenue at 5 a.m., tied up three people and ransacked the house, taking cash and jewelry.