Read Athena Mekis’ Kate Su Yi feature story, which includes details behind the murder, here.
The 25-to-life prison sentence Jonathan Huynh received today did not relieve Kate Su Yi’s parents and friends of their pain.
“Twenty-five years,” Yi’s father, Chung Jae Yi, said with distress.
“It’s not enough,” Deputy District Attorney Lesley Klein said. “This is the best we can do. This is the most he can be sentenced.”
“He’s smiling,” Yi’s father said, pointing his finger in the direction where Huynh had sat moments before.
Huynh walked into the courtroom with nonchalance. He directed an open smile at the bailiff as he sat down to face Judge Tomson Ong, but he did not turn to look at Yi’s loved ones.
Ong explained that a change of venue motion was not granted because a Press Telegram story that was written during the trial was embedded too far into the paper to have an influence on the jury’s decision.
Huynh’s public defender, Alan Nakasone, has filed an appeal.
Ong listed off Huynh’s penalty fees, which amounted to more than $20,000. He will begin paying the fees through prison earnings.
Huynh will be eligible for release in 26 years because the courts added a mandatory one year for using a knife. He will be 47 years old.
According to Klein, his prison sentence was given as a premeditated murder. She said it was the longest sentence he could possibly receive without special circumstances, like if he committed additional crimes.
Chung said it was hard to be in the same room as Huynh and even breathe the same air, according to Klein.
There were red rings around Yi’s mother’s eyes, but she did not cry. Yi’s three friends who had been involved in the trial wiped their tears, unwrinkled their brows and gave Yi’s mother a hug before they left.
Chung bowed to Klein and walked away, side-by-side with his wife.
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