The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Vigil celebrates life of lawyer killed in Midtown
Hours after the suspect in a fatal Midtown shooting waived his first court appearance, friends and family of the woman who was killed gathered late Thursday to honor her.
Trinh Huynh, 40 — an Atlanta attorney known for her sense of humor and boundless energy — was shot as she walked on Peachtree Street toward the Midtown MARTA station around 7:40 a.m. Monday. Investigators believe Raylon Lee Browning approached her from behind and shot her several times, though no motive has been determined.
Friends and family gathered for a candlelight vigil Thursday evening just steps away from where Huynh was killed. Many attending shared memories of Huynh, who as a toddler fled from her native Vietnam.
One mourner handed out longstemmed white carnations. It was early enough in the vigil that a somber mood had not yet set in, and people greeted each other with smiles and dry eyes.
Dan Hyunh shares a last name with Trinh, but they aren’t related. They worked together at law firm Alston and Bird.
“One of my first days was one of her last,” Huynh said.
He found out about the fatal
shooting when a coworker texted him asking if “this was the same Trinh.”
A social media search turned up evidence that it was in fact the same woman.
“You don’t think this is going to happen to someone you know,” Huynh said.
Though Joan Jordan only met Trinh last year, she met one of Trinh’s four older sisters about 15 years ago when they both worked at Invesco, about a mile away in Midtown.
The sisters and Jordan all went to dinner together Saturday night. Two days later, Jordan got a call from a mutual friend who told her what happened.
“We still don’t have an explanation,” Jordan said. “Seemed so senseless.”
Huynh, who grew up in Gainesville, attended Gainesville High School, Princeton University and Emory University, where she earned her law degree. She was on her way to her job at UPS when she was shot, according to police, who released surveillance images of the suspect.
Monday night, Browning, 39, allegedly ran a red light and was stopped by a Cobb officer who determined he was a wanted man — Browning was the suspect in a double stabbing Sunday that injured two men. Browning was held overnight in the Cobb jail, then detectives identified him Tuesday morning as the suspect in Huynh’s death.
After being moved to the Fulton jail Tuesday, Browning’s violent acts continued, according to the sheriff’s office. Tuesday night he allegedly punched another inmate four times in the face and was found chewing on his own arm, incident reports showed. Deputies were forced to deploy their Tasers to stun Browning, who was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for observation. He was returned to the jail Wednesday night.
Browning waived his first court appearance Thursday morning and was being held in the jail’s medical unit for an undisclosed reason, according to a spokeswoman for the Fulton sheriff ’s office.
Browning’s next court appearance is scheduled for April 20 at 9:30 a.m. on the murder and aggravated assault charges related to Huynh’s death. Visitation for Huynh will be held Saturday from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Little & Davenport Funeral Home and Crematory in Gainesville.