Photo: (TOP) gofundme; Ron Harris/AP/Shutterstock; GoFundMe (2); (BOT) GoFundMe, Kennesaw Police Department (2); Feng Daoyou
On that day, the gunman entered Young’s Asian Massage and shot and killed four people, injuring a fifth, theAssociated Pressreports. He then allegedly drove to a second spa, Gold Spa, and opened fire. When authorities arrived, three women were found dead from gunshot wounds inside, Sgt. John Chafee of Atlanta Police Department’s Public Affairs Unit previouslytold PEOPLEin a statement.
While police were at Gold Spa, they received reports that shots were being fired at an additional massage parlor across the street, Aromatherapy Spa, where another woman was shot and killed.
The suspect, Robert Aaron Long, was charged with eight counts of murder in connection with the shootings,The New York Timesreports. In July 2021, Long pleaded guilty to four murders, theAssociated Pressreports, and he was sentenced to life in prison, but he still faces charges — and the death penalty — in connection with the four additional deaths.
Here’s everything we know about the victims of the Atlanta-area shootings.
Hyun Jung Grant
Hyun Jung Grant with her sons.GoFundMe
Hyun Jung Grant was a 51-year-old single mother who lived with her two sons, 23-year-old Randy Park and his younger brother, with their extended family living in South Korea. Grant was killed at the Gold Spa massage parlor.
Before coming to the United States, she worked as an elementary school teacher,TIMEreports.
In an interview withABC News, Park said that his mother was “quite literally the only thing keeping us running,” and that she would work “long” nights in order to provide for her family.
“This is something that should never happen to anyone,” Park wrote in aGoFundMecreated after the shooting to cover funeral costs and help provide for himself and his brother. The fundraiser reached nearly $3 million.
“[She] dedicated her whole life to providing for my brother and I,” he continued. “She was one of my best friends and the strongest influence on who we are today. Losing her has put a new lens on my eyes on the amount of hate that exists in our world.”
Delaina Ashley Yaun
Delaina Ashley Yaun.GoFundMe
Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, was a mother of two and was visiting Young’s Asian Massage outside Acworth, Ga., for the first time with her husband, whom she married in August 2021, according toWXIA.She was a server at Waffle House and a devoted mother to her 13-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter,TIMEreported.
“They’re innocent. They did nothing wrong,” Yaun’s mother, Margaret Rushing, added. “I just don’t understand why he took my daughter.”
AGoFundMepage that was created to cover funeral expenses called Yaun “a beautiful Angel.” Any additional money raised was set aside for her children, according to the fundraiser’s description.
Paul Andre Michels
Paul Andre Michels.Kennesaw Police Department
Paul Andre Michels, 54, was fatally shot at Young’s Asian Massage parlor.
An Army veteran, Michels moved to the Atlanta area in 1995 alongside one of his eight siblings, according to theAssociated Press. There, Paul met his wife of over 20 years.
“He was a good, hard-working man who would do what he could do to help people,” his brother told the outlet. “He’d loan you money if you needed it sometimes. You never went away from his place hungry.”
“From what I understand, he was at the spa that day doing some work for them,” John added of his brother, who worked installing security systems. “He was actually looking to start his own massage spa. That’s what he was talking about last year.”
Xiaojie Tan
Xiaojie Tan.Kennesaw Police Department
Xiaojie Tan, who owned Young’s Asian Massage, was killed one day before her 50th birthday.
“She did everything for me and for the family. She provided everything. She worked every day, 12 hours a day, so that me and our family would have a better life,” Jami Webb, 29, toldUSA Todayof her mother.
Tan first met former husband Michael Webb in China, where she was born, according to the outlet. Two years after tying the knot in 2004, the pair moved to the United States.
Within the span of 15 years, Tan went from working as a nail technician to owning two businesses, the first of which she opened shortly after moving to Georgia in 2010.
“She worked so hard,” Webb told the outlet. “And she was very successful at that.”
Daoyou Feng
Feng Daoyou.Feng Daoyou
DaoyouFeng, 44, was working at Young’s Asian Massage when she was killed,The Washington Postreports.
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Dr. Charles Li, a founding member of ACAA, told ABC News that he spoke with Feng’s brother who said Feng was from Liangdong, China, and was the youngest of her siblings.
Soon Chung Park
Soon Chung Park.gofundme
Soon Chung Park, 74, moved to Atlanta in recent years to be closer to her friends, her son-in-law Scott Lee toldThe Washington Post.
“She was very healthy,” he told the paper. “Everybody said she was going to live past 100 years old.”
She was a hardworking mother of five,The New York Timesreports, and started working at Gold Spa in 2018.
Yong Ae Yue
Robert Peterson holds a photo of his late mother, Yong Ae Yue,, in Atlanta.Ron Harris/AP/Shutterstock
“My mother didn’t do anything wrong,” one of her sons, 38-year-old Robert Peterson, toldThe Atlanta-Journal Constitution. “And she deserves the recognition that she is a human, she’s a community person like everyone else. None of those people deserved what happened to them.”
Suncha Kim
gofundme
Suncha Kim, 69, worked at Gold Spa,The New York Timesreports, and was married for more than 50 years.
In aGoFundMecreated for her family, Kim was described as “a fighter” who migrated to the United States from Seoul, South Korea.
“She represented everything I wanted to be as a woman, without an ounce of hate or bitterness in her heart,” her granddaughter wrote.
If you’ve been attacked or have witnessed an attack, please contact your local authorities. You can also report your incidenthere. / To learn more and to report crimes, go to:Asian Americans Advancing Justice,Stop the AAPI Hate,National Council of Asian Pacific Americans,Asian Americans Advancing Justice-LA, andAsian Pacific Policy & Planning Council.
source: people.com
