Everett man pleads guilty to Edmonds’ Boo Han Market shootings

The shooting scene at Boo Han Plaza on September 29th. (Photo by Cody Sexton)

An Everett man pleaded guilty this week to first degree murder and two charges of first degree assault, shooting three people and killing one at Boo Han Market in Edmonds in September 2020.

Duy Phuong Nguyen, 27, admitted the shooting in Snohomish District Court Tuesday in which the boyfriend of his estranged wife, Thanh Vy Ly, a 20-year-old woman from Mountlake Terrace, was killed. Nguyen also shot his wife (24) and Ly’s friend (23).

According to his plea, Nguyen faces 25 to 31 2/3 years in prison.

On September 29, 2020, Nguyen was videotaped three times while entering the Boo Han Market at Block 22600 of Highway 99, according to indictment documents filed with the court. At around 3:30 p.m., Nguyen is seen leaving the store and “without stopping his pace” pulling a gun from his waistband and firing about 12 rounds at the trio while they were huddled outside the market.

Ly was shot in the arm and stomach and died of her injuries at Harborview Medical Center. In the ambulance, she told first responders, “My friend’s husband did this.” Nguyen’s wife was shot in the face and abdomen, and Ly’s friend was shot five times in both legs and right abdomen.

Nguyen initially fled the scene, but later that day surrendered in the South Precinct of the Everett Police Department. The gun he used was purchased two weeks before the shooting, the court records say.

According to indictment documents, the couple had a history of domestic violence. On August 2, court records show that Nguyen’s wife 911 cried and said she was in danger. Less than a minute later, Nguyen’s mother can be heard picking up the phone and telling the police that everything is fine.

A few weeks after the 911 call, the estranged woman told police that she had been kicked out of her in-laws’ home, where she had lived with her husband since moving from Vietnam earlier this year. She then moved in with Ly, who lived on Mountlake Terrace. The night before the shooting, court documents said Nguyen had sent threatening texts to his wife regarding Ly, which his wife showed Ly and her boyfriend.

The Snohomish County Domestic Violence Service provides assistance to all those in need who are victims of domestic violence, dating or marital violence, emotional abuse and bullying. Call the service’s 24/7 crisis hotline at 425-252-2873.

–By Cody Küster