My Nhan has been a regular at Star Ballroom for more than a decade, choosing the Los Angeles ballroom popular with older Asian Americans as the place to “start the year.” new” Lunar New Year celebrations, said her niece.
Complete coverage: Mass shooting in Monterey Park
Her family can now find some comfort in knowing that Nhan, one of 11 people shot by a gunman in Monterey Park on Saturday night, died after spending the evening doing what she loved.
“It’s nice to know that she enjoyed her last dance, even though it was her last dance,” said her niece, Fonda Quan.
Nhan, 65, was a regular at the two dance halls Tran targeted. The bars were popular places for older Asian Americans to socialize and dance. It was where Nhan chose to celebrate the New Year, which came three weeks after her mother’s death.
Nhan, who was her mother’s guardian, was ready to “start the new year” and celebrate with friends, Quan said.
She immigrated from Vietnam in the 1980s and ended up making the San Gabriel Valley her home, living in the Rosemead community. Quan says she doesn’t know exactly how her aunt got into bathroom dancing, but she thinks it has something to do with the funky fur she’s wearing.
“What I do know is that it has always been really fashionable,” said Quan. “And I think the fancy dress goes with the ballroom dancing. I think that’s probably related.”
Quan said she never heard her aunt talk about the gunman. While the family feels some peace knowing he is dead, they want answers about his motives, she said.
“I hope that whatever we find, whatever we learn, it’s a lesson learned for everybody to understand, like, you know, what can we do better to prevent this from happening in the future?” Quan said.
Tiffany Liou, a reporter for WFAA television in Dallas, said on Twitter that Nhan, her husband’s aunt, treated her niece and her children “like her children.”
“Her kindness is what this world needs,” Liou wrote.
A statement from Nhan’s family, posted by Liou on Twitter, said: “If you knew her, you knew her warm smile and kindness were contagious. She was a loving aunt, sister, daughter and friend. Mymy was the greatest leader.”
Mymy Nhan is the first person to be shot and killed during the #MontereyPark mass shooting.
I have covered many tragedies and never thought one would hit so close to home.
My husband’s family is hurting beyond measure. Here’s a word for the family name. pic.twitter.com/q5GXa0g4Kh
— Tiffany Liou (@tliou) January 23, 2023
Donna Littlejohn contributed to this report.
