Killer Gets 48 Years for Little Saigon Attack

A 20-year-old gang member was sentenced Friday to 48 years to life in prison on a string of murder, attempted murder and robbery charges.

An Orange County Superior Court jury in June convicted Binh Huynh of Hawthorne in the March 1994 shooting death of rival gang member Le Quang Nguyen, also 20, in a Little Saigon eatery. The hail of bullets also wounded two women eating at the cafe and left another man paralyzed for life.

Just a few weeks later, Huynh participated in a home invasion robbery in Fountain Valley, during which he and another man tied up boys ages 5 and 7 and terrorized a man in his 80s, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Ted Burnett.

Huynh also has been identified as an escapee from a correctional facility, officials said.

Before the sentencing, Tien Le, the mother of the youth Huynh killed, wept as she asked Orange County Superior Court Judge Francisco P. Briseno for justice.

“Your honor, I only had one child . . . he was my hope,” Tien Le said in a statement that was read to the court.

Binh Huynh showed no emotion as Briseno handed down the sentence.

Huynh must spend at least 40 years in prison before he is eligible for parole. Burnett told Tien Le it is unlikely Huynh will ever leave prison.

Outside court, Burnett said the sentence was just because of the brutality of the acts. “He is a scary kid,” Burnett said.