Shooting of US-Cambodian Teen Angers a Town

By Taing Sarada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
21 May 2009

The shooting death of a Cambodian-American girl last week in Lowell, Mass., has caused one community to demand prevention of violence in the future.

Choeun Tavaryna, a 17-year-old high school student, was shot while driving in a car, in what police say was an attempt to kill the driver in gang-related violence.

The United Teen Equality Centre on Tuesday prepared a rally to commemorate the victim’s death at Lowell City Hall.

“Young kids really put it together, to really speak out against the violence that happened last week,” Cregg Croteau, executive director of UTEC told VOA by phone on Tuesday. “We got a young girl, Tavaryna, 17 years old, shot and killed and she was left at the side of the road. So young people will stand up and speak out, that this is considered something that is not OK to have in the community.”

Choeun Tavaryna, a Lawrence high school student, was shot to death by a suspected gang member while she was riding in the front seat of a car with two friends, a male and a female, around the night of May 12.

The attorney general of Middlesex district, Gerry Leone, was quoted by the local media saying that her male friend, who drove the car, had a gang conflict with the alleged perpetrator.

The shot was aimed at the driver but hit the girl when the other vehicle occupants ducked, according to media reports. The police found Choeun Tavaryna’s body at 10: 14 pm, after her friends reportedly pushed her out of the car.

Three days after the shooting, Lowell police arrested a suspect, Ron Srey, 25, at a friend’s home.

Lowell has seen armed violence on the streets in the past, due to gangs and the drug trade.

Cregg said his center and the police are trying to establish programs to prevent young people from being swept up in street violence among gangs.

Vong Ross, president of the Cambodian Mutual Assistant Association, in Lowell, said he had seen similar shootings five or six times already.

In order to prevent violence, his group plans to ask for financial support from the government to create programs to draw youths away from gangs.

“Sometimes we can use knowledge together,” he said. “OK, you know you want to create a computer program, OK, now we can help each other create a Web site to teach other young people.”

Skills of one can be transferred to another, but there has to be incentive, he said.

“If they do their work, we should give them some pay for their work, $7 to $8, then the kids will come to work and stay away from the gangs,” he said.

His association is also preparing a commemoration ceremony for Choeun Tavaryna on June 6.

Cambodian-American teenager killed in Lowell was an 'innocent bystander'

She was an 'innocent bystander'

Lawrence mom tries to cope with shooting death of daughter shot in head

May 15, 2009
By Bill Kirk
bkirk@eagletribune.com
The Eagle Tribune (Massachusetts, USA)

LAWRENCE — Sophal Choeun spoke quietly as she leafed through a family photo album that contained pictures of her dead daughter and her other children.

"I pray to God they find who did this to my daughter," said Choeun, 45, a Cambodian immigrant who lives with her three other children and mother on the second floor of an Abbott Street multifamily house.

Her daughter, Tavaryna Choeun, 17, a Lawrence High School dropout with a history of running away from home, died yesterday in the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, where she was brought Tuesday night after she was shot once in the head in Lowell.

Police said Choeun was an "innocent bystander" — shot while riding in the front passenger seat of a car with a male friend driving and a female friend in the back seat.

No arrests were made as of last night. Authorities said they believe they know who the shooter is.

Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone said yesterday the driver and shooter, who are gang-affiliated, had an altercation earlier in the day, but the shooting was not gang-related.

Leone said a car pulled up alongside them and someone fired several shots, hitting Choeun once in the head. No one else was injured.

He said Choeun's two friends then dumped her body onto Suffolk Street in Lowell, where a passer-by saw her and called police.

Corey Welford, a spokesman for Leone, said police found Choeun on the street in front of 132 Suffolk St. at 10:14 p.m.

Choeun moved to Lowell to live with her 20-year-old boyfriend several months ago.

Leone said the driver and the other female passenger were interviewed, and that it was not known why they didn't take her to a hospital or call 911.

"I'll go see her in Boston today," said Choeun's mother, her other children and mother sitting by her side on a couch in the living room of their apartment at 184 Abbott St.

Choeun said her daughter had never been in trouble, and Lawrence police Chief John Romero confirmed yesterday that the girl had never been arrested in Lawrence.

The victim's sister, Maryanne Choeun, 18, said Tavaryna had dropped out of high school in her freshman year and had run away from home several times. She recently ran away from her foster home in Lawrence and had been living with her 20-year-old boyfriend in Lowell.

Tavaryna's father lives in California and is traveling in Cambodia, said Maryanne Choeun, adding that she hasn't seen her father in years and that he was unaware of his daughter's death.

Aside from her father, mother and sister Maryanne, Tavaryna has a younger sister, Susan, 16, and brother, Peter, 7, and grandmother, Chy.

Lawrence teen, 17, shot in Lowell, dies

Tavaryna Choeun, 17 - Paul Bilodeau / Courtesy photo

May 14, 2009
By Bill Kirk
bkirk@eagletribune.com
The Eagle Tribune (North Andover, Massachusetts, USA)

LOWELL — A Lawrence teen who was shot and pushed out of a car on a street in Lowell Tuesday night died early this morning, her family told The Eagle-Tribune today.

Tavaryna Choeun, 17, who lived with her family at 184 Abbott St. before moving out of the house several months ago, was shot in the back of the head by unknown assailants, her body dropped on the side of Suffolk Street where she was found by Lowell police at 10:16 p.m. Tuesday.

She was taken to Lahey Clinic in Burlington and was on life support before succumbing to her injuries at 2 a.m. this morning, said her mother, Sophal Choeun, 45.

"I pray to God they find who did this to my daughter," said Choeun, a Cambodian immigrant who lives with her family, including three other children and her mother on the second floor of an Abbott Street multi-family house.

"I'll go see her in Boston today at 1 p.m.," she said quietly, her children and mother sitting by her side.

Choeun said her daughter had never been in trouble, and Lawrence Police Chief John Romero confirmed yesterday that she had never been arrested in Lawrence.

However, she said her oldest daughter was in the custody of the Department of Social Services because she kept dropping out of school.

"I didn't want her to drop out," she said.

The victim's sister, Maryanne Choeun, 18, said Tavaryna had dropped out of Lawrence High School in her freshman year and was a chronic runaway. She had run away from her foster home and was most recently living with her boyfriend in Lowell, a 20-year-old man, she said.

Tavaryna's father lives in California and is traveling in Cambodia, Maryanne Choeun said.

Aside from her mother and sister Maryanne, Tavaryna has a younger sister, Susan, 16, and brother, Peter, 7, and grandmother, Chy.

Maryanne Choeun told the Lowell Sun she hadn't talked to her sister in several months, but that she is a shy and quiet girl, who had no enemies and no problems with her boyfriend.

"We just want to know who did it," Maryanne Choeun said. "I can't believe they did this kind of stuff to my sister."

Lowell Police Capt. James McPadden said the investigation is ongoing and is being handled by District Attorney Gerard Leone's office.

A spokesman for Leone, Corey Welford, could not be reached for comment this morning.

Anyone with information is asked to call Lowell police at (978) 937-3200 or Crimestoppers at (978) 459-TIPS (8477). Callers may remain anonymous, but can receive up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest.