Oberlin professor's child faces murder charges
Asia Nguyen-Duy, 31, was held on a $3 million bond after the deaths of Pipo Nguyen-Duy and his wife were discovered in their Ohio home.
By Tunde Bailey ·
Asia Nguyen-Duy, a 31-year-old resident of Ashland, Oregon, was arraigned on Thursday on charges of murder, felonious assault, and tampering with evidence. The suspect is being held in Lorain County Jail on a $3 million bond.
Police found the bodies of Pipo Nguyen-Duy, 64, and his wife, Tran Thi Nam Phong, 56, shot in their home in Oberlin, Ohio, on Wednesday. The professor, a studio art and photography instructor at Oberlin College, was located on the first floor, while his wife was found on the second floor.
Zachary Simonoff, the Oberlin City Prosecutor, told Judge Farah Emeka at a hearing that the defendant offered a confession and provided the address of the victims. Simonoff also stated that the suspect's mother contacted police to report that her child was currently psychotic and required medication. A message was subsequently left with Asia Nguyen-Duy's attorney.
The suspect, who identifies as gender neutral and no longer uses the name Daniel Jones, was initially carried into the municipal courtroom with a face that was tattooed and bloodied. They were later wheeled in seated on a chair. Identification found in a car set on fire near the college's conservatory of music helped lead investigators to the scene. Court filings show the car had been registered to Daniel Jones.
The case has been bound over to Lorain County Common Pleas Court, where a grand jury will review the matter next. The deaths occurred just after students returned to campus from fall break, prompting the suspension or modification of studio art classes.
Oberlin College President Carmen Twillie Ambar described the event as a deeply challenging moment for the community in an open letter. An exhibit of Nguyen-Duy's photography is now on display at the campus art museum, and a memorial tribute is being planned for the professor, who joined the faculty in 1998.
The Guggenheim Foundation, which named Nguyen-Duy a photography fellow in 2011, issued a statement mourning the loss. The foundation noted that Nguyen-Duy immigrated from Vietnam in 1975 and began photography in his late 20s. His work frequently addressed themes such as immigration, intimacy, and the cost of war.
