Son to Be Charged in Death of His Mother

A Fountain Valley man has been arrested in connection with the death of his mother, who died two weeks ago after apparently being struck in the face, authorities said.

Long Thanh Nguyen, 49, is set to be arraigned today on charges of homicide in the death of Chinh Thi Nguyen, 89, police said Tuesday.

“It’s a very unfortunate act,” Sgt. Jim Perry, a spokesman for the Fountain Valley Police Dept., said of the incident that resulted in the woman’s death.

Police responded to the incident about 6 p.m. Nov. 15. Investigators suspect the son, who lived with his mother on Thistle Street in Fountain Valley, punched the woman in the face as she was seated in a chair. Perry said the woman apparently fell backward, hitting her head on the ceramic kitchen floor, where she remained for some time.

When officers found the woman, she was lying in a shallow pool of water that may have come from an overflowing toilet. She was transported to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where she died that night.

Although authorities first thought the woman had died of a heart attack, Perry said, they now believe her death was a direct result of the blow to her face and the fall. “We are still in the process of establishing everything that occurred up to the moment of this incident,” Perry said Tuesday.

On the day of the attack, the son was taken to a psychiatric facility, where he remained under observation until this week. On Monday afternoon, Perry said, police took him to the Orange County Jail. His bail was set at $250,000.