16-Year-Old Hmong Boy Pleads Guilty in Hampden Food Cooperative Robbery

by Gregg Reed

Police Shot and Killed 19-Year-Old Kai Lor at the Hampden Food Coop in October and in 1989 Kai Lor's 13-Year-Old Nephew Ba See Lor in Inver Grove Heights

(Minneapolis, November 24, 1994) On Tuesday, November 22, 16-year-old Pha Vang pled guilty to attempted aggravated robbery of the Hampden Food Cooperative, where off duty St. Paul Police Officer David Timm shot and killed two of Vang's friends, Kai Lor and Bruce Teng Thao, during the robbery.

On November 3, a Ramsey County Grand Jury that the Ramsey County Attorney's office says heard witnesses from the store, including clerks and customers, issued a "No Bill" decision, preventing charges to Officer Timm.

The Ramsey County Juvenile Court sentenced 16-year-old Vang to 18 months at Clarinda Academy, a home facility for boys in Iowa, after Ramsey County Attorney Tom Foley discontinued efforts to try him as an adult, Judge Pritsky told ASIAN PAGES. Vang did not have a birth certificate on file with the State of Minnesota.

On Friday, November 19, the US District Court approved dispersal of $200,000 for the families of two Hmong teenagers that an Inver Grove Heights Police Officer Kenneth Murphy shot and killed in 1989, Inver Grove Heights Attorney Pete Regnier told ASIAN PAGES. The court determined this settlement last March, Regnier said.

Mee Lor, who is Kai Lor's sister and an employee of the Hmong American Partnership in St. Paul, told ASIAN PAGES
that Kai Lor is the uncle of 13-year-old Ba See Lor, who was killed in the Inver Grove Heights case. Also shot and killed in Inver Grove Heights in 1989 was 13-year-old Thai Yang. Another unidentified 14-year-old boy was also involved in the incident.

In 1990, a Dakota County Grand Jury issued a no indictment decision for the deaths in Inver Grove Heights, avoiding charges against Officer Murphy. After a police chase, the boys left their stolen car and ran across a field, but one boy carried a screwdriver that Officer Murphy thought was a gun.

Although the two teenagers killed in the shootings are relatives, Officer Timm said "No." when ASIAN PAGES asked him if he thought the events in Inver Grove Heights and St. Paul were related. Mee Lor said that Kai Lor and Ba See Lor were related, "but they don't like each other." And brother Yao Lor told ASIAN PAGES, "They know each other, but live separately with their mothers."

The Hmong Social Justice Committee, led by Lee Pao Xiong, questioned the decision of the Ramsey County Grand Jury on November 4, considering information from the St. Paul Police Department said that the gun the assailants allegedly used had not been fired, while the witnesses said the gun had been fired.

The committee also said that the body of one man was marked with trauma that may not have been from gun fire, and Xiong said, his examination of the body of Kai Lor at the Hmong Funeral Home in St. Paul showed that the body may have been shot from horizontal and vertical positions.

Medical Examiner Michael B. McGee, MD, whom death certificates indicate examined the four bodies from both the Inver Grove Heights shooting and the Hampden Food Coop shooting at St. Paul Ramsey Medical Center, told ASIAN PAGES that the condition of the bodies is confidential. Information and explanations about the bodies are available to only to the families, police, and attorneys.

For each death, Dr. McGee noted the immediate cause of death was "exsanguination," which means loss of blood. The blood loss resulted from "gun shot wounds" the death certificates said.

Xiong told ASIAN PAGES that his committee "wants to make a clear statement that we do not support criminal activities, but we have the right to question the actions of investigators, and we have the right to make people accountable." He said that his committee's short-term focus is to help investigate the case, but the long-term focus is to prevent violent crimes.

Mee Lor said that her family has left the examination of issues involving her brother's death to Xiong's committee. To date the committee has met with Ramsey County Attorney Tom Foley, published a guest editorial in the St. Paul-Pioneer Press, and appeared on KTCA TV's Almanac show.

Although they have been able to identify a few specific issues, they have not been able to resolve them to favor the Hmong teenagers. Working against the committee are the decisions of the grand jury, the St. Paul Police-Civilian Internal Affairs Review Commission, and the Ramsey County Juvenile Court, which have all issued decisions absolving Officer Timm.

Foley told ASIAN PAGES that he is expecting to work closely with Xiong's committee, and he was pleased that Xiong made his issues clear to Foley in a meeting. Xiong's criticisms are moderate, as he emphasizes the need for Hmong teenagers to avoid criminal actions and violence and to be accountable for their crimes. Xiong hopes that families will give better attention to how their children keep from committing crimes and becoming violent.

The shooting of the teenagers in Inver Grove Heights in 1989 drew a more substantial backlash in 1990. At that time, 400 people attended a protest at North Memorial Hospital, Minnesota State Attorney General Skip Humphrey set up a 14-member panel to review the issue, and the media provided frequent reports about how the Hmong families involved in the case were receiving harassing letters, phone calls, and death threats.

Resulting from the Inver Grove Heights shooting was a review by the State of Minnesota of how to better respond to hate crimes.

As Ramsey County Attorney Tom Foley discussed the issue of violence among teenagers with ASIAN PAGES Friday, November 19, he referred to "our violent juvenile society" and said he intends to "be tough on gun users."

Foley wants to "ask for significant bail and significant sentences" as he prosecutes "to the full extent of the law." He stressed that "violent juveniles will be held accountable" and that any criminal activities involving guns will have "significant consequences."