After he lost his mother in the metro Atlanta spa shootings earlier this year, Randy Park hardly had time to grieve.
Instead, he worried whether he would need a second job to support him and his younger brother and put food on the table. Park assumed he’d have to put his own dreams aside, he said Thursday. Six months after his mother, Hyun Jung Grant, was one of eight killed at three metro Atlanta spas, Park has hope for the future.
“I wouldn’t be able to do this without the collective effort of everyone,” Park said during a Thursday news conference.
A GoFundMe page Park created after the shootings has raised nearly $3 million. In addition, Park and his brother benefitted from a fund created by the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.
Investigators believe Robert Aaron Long killed eight people on March 16. Six were Asian women. Long, 22, pleaded guilty to the Cherokee County charges in July, assuring he will spend life in prison. Charges are pending in Fulton, where the district attorney is seeking the death penalty.
Credit: Alyssa Pointer
Credit: Alyssa Pointer
In the days after the shootings, the Asian American and Pacific Islander community created the AAPI Crime Victims and Education Fund, meant to prevent violence through education and assist victims.
During the Thursday news conferences, representatives from several groups in Georgia gathered at the Atlanta law firm of Alston and Bird to announce the creation of a national advisory board and initial corporate donors, including Southern Company Gas and Nike. Organizers hope to raise $1 million for a fund to help victims around the country.
“I sincerely believe we need to stand up and help victims of hate crimes, no matter their backgrounds,” said Vijay Bondada, chief litigation officer for Duke Energy Corporation. “Asian-Americans are not new. They are not foreigners. They are very much the fabric of this country.”
Investigators believe Long bought a gun and first went to Young’s Asian Massage near Woodstock on March 16. After paying for a service at Young’s Asian Massage, Long pulled out the gun and killed four people and critically injured a fifth, prosecutors say. Xiaojie “Emily” Tan, 49; Daoyou Feng, 44; Delaina Yaun, 33; and Paul Michels, 54, were killed. Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz was injured.
Credit: Family Photos
Credit: Family Photos
From there, investigators believe Long drove to Atlanta. Yong Ae Yue, 63; Soon Chung Park, 74; Suncha Kim, 69; and Grant, 51, were shot to death at the Gold Spa and Aromatherapy Spa.
“These murders shook our nation to the core and in particular shook our Asian American community,” former U.S. Attorney BJay Pak, now a partner with Alston and Bird, said Thursday.
Pak, who represents families of two victims, moderated an event announcing the advisory board.
Within hours of the shootings, Long was captured in south Georgia and charged with four counts of murder in both Cherokee and Fulton counties.
In late July, Long entered a guilty plea in Cherokee was given four consecutive life sentences, plus 35 years, without the possibility of parole. If the case had gone to trial in Cherokee, District Attorney Shannon Wallace said she planned to pursue the death penalty. But the victims’ families and survivors wanted swift justice, Wallace said.
Additionally, prosecutors were prepared to argue that Long committed a hate crime when he targeted women. Wallace said investigators found no evidence of racial motivation. Long told investigators his actions weren’t racially motivated and Asian American people who have known him told prosecutors they had not seen racial bias from him, authorities said.
Long told the judge in the Cherokee case that he initially planned to kill himself because of the shame he felt over what he called his obsessive addiction to pornography.
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis plans to pursue the death penalty and seek hate crime charges against Long, who remains in the Fulton jail. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 28.
During Thursday’s announcement, leaders in the AAPI community from around the country hope that partnering with corporations will raise awareness and funds. While some attitudes have changed, hate crimes are still happening. The fight continues for those in AAPI community, including Angela Hsu, president of Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association.
“Let’s not wait this time around,” Hsu said. “Let’s not wait for another shooting to take action.”
HOW TO HELP
People can donate to the AAPI Crime Victims and Education Fund via the Georgia Asian American Pacific Bar Association’s website at gapaba.org/DONATE.
THE STORY SO FAR
March 16: Eight people were shot to death at three metro Atlanta spas. Robert Aaron Long was arrested that night in south Georgia.
May 11: District attorneys in Cherokee and Fulton counties announced Long had been indicted.
July 27: Long pleaded guilty to four of the murders in a deal formalized in a Cherokee County courtroom. The agreement spared him a death sentence, though that possibility remains in Fulton County.
Aug. 30: Long made his first appearance in a Fulton courtroom. Fulton DA Fani Willis said Long was driven by racial, gender bias and she is seeking hate crime charges.
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