Police have arrested a seventh suspect accused of murder after a woman’s body was found in the trunk of a vehicle outside a Duluth-area bathhouse and spa last month.
Mihee Lee, 54, was booked into the Gwinnett County Jail on Wednesday and is facing the same charges as the other five adult suspects: felony murder, false imprisonment, tampering with evidence and concealing the death of another, according to online records.
They were previously identified as Eric Hyun, 26, Juoonhyun Lee, 22, Joonho Lee, 26, Hyunji Lee, 25, and Gawon Lee, 26. A 15-year-old, Junyeoug Lee, was also charged with murder and was being held at a youth detention center, police said.
Credit: Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office
Mihee Lee is the mother of Juoonhyun Lee, Joonho Lee and Junyeong Lee, police said Wednesday.
Investigators believe the victim, Seehe Cho, came to the United States during the summer and moved to Lawrenceville with hopes of joining a religious group known as the “Soldiers of Christ.” But she was held against her will for several weeks inside a home in the city, where she was beaten and denied food until her death, police said. According to an arrest warrant, Mihee Lee allegedly helped limit the victim’s water intake and prevented her from leaving or receiving medical care while she underwent “religious training.”
Credit: Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office
“During this time the victim was beat and required to complete multiple tasks that caused stress on the body,” added the warrant, which was issued Oct. 3.
Then, police said Cho’s 70-pound body was placed inside the trunk of a silver Jaguar sedan and left outside Jeju Sauna, a popular 24-hour Korean bathhouse on Gwinnett Place Drive. Investigators believed she may have been dead for more than a week before her body was left there, Gwinnett police Cpl. Juan Madiedo said last month.
Medical examiners assumed malnourishment contributed to her death. She was thought to be in her mid-20s to 30s, police said.
On early Sept. 12, Hyun drove his car with Cho’s body inside to the business parking lot and called a family member to pick him up, Madiedo said. The family member then took Hyun to a hospital for unrelated injuries. While there, the relative was asked to get an item from the car and noticed the body, then called 911. The family member was not charged. Police said Hyun was booked into the county jail Sept. 24 after he was released from the hospital.
Investigators eventually tracked Hyun to a Lawrenceville address, where he had lived previously, police said. They then executed a search warrant at 2415 Stable Gate, where the alleged killing occurred sometime between July 21 and Sept. 12, the warrant stated.
According to property records, the home was purchased by a Lee family member in June 2021. The beatings allegedly occurred in the basement, police said.
Mihee Lee is also facing a charge of false statements and writings, according to the warrant. She was being held without bond, jail records show.
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