By Emily Gurnon, St. Paul Pioneer Press
St. Paul, Minn. — Some 20 gang members had massed outside his house. They were approaching his three sons. He himself had been shot before. He was only trying to defend himself and his family, he told police.
But on Friday, Nai Vang cast his eyes downward as he sat in court and pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and second-degree assault in the Oct. 26 killing of an 18-year-old Brooklyn Park man.
Nai Vang, 38, faces between 10 and 15 years in the shooting, which left Chia Neng Yang dead. A 15-year-old boy was treated for gunshot wounds to his arms.
The defendant confirmed, in answers to questions by his attorney, Barry Voss, he could have used several defenses in the trial he was giving up.
Those included self-defense, defense of his property, defense of his family and the fact that he had been shot by gang members prior to the Oct. 26 incident and might have post-traumatic stress disorder as a result.
The criminal complaint described events of Oct. 26 this way:
When police arrived at Nai Vang’s home at 837 E. Jessamine in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood, they found Chia Yang lying dead in a nearby alley.
A witness told police an argument had erupted between members of the Bloods gang and Vang’s son, Gary Vang, who was dating an ex-girlfriend of a Bloods member.
Gary Vang and his friends are Asian Crips members, the complaint said.
Confronted by the other gang, Gary Vang said, “If they want to fight, let’s fight,” and he, two brothers and friends started
to gather up sticks and knives.
Nai Vang walked out of the house and told the Bloods to leave, but they approached his three boys, he told police. He went inside, grabbed the gun he used to shoot squirrels and came out firing.
Gary Vang was also arrested in the incident, but was not charged. Steven Vang, not related to Gary or Nai Vang, pleaded guilty to driving a car that hit Chia Yang while he was lying in the alley, and then leaving the scene.
In July, Nai Vang was shot in the back by gang members outside his former home on Wells Street. He told police after the Oct. 26 shooting that he thought the same men were “coming back to finish him off.”
Kong Meng Thao, 19, of St. Paul, pleaded guilty to that offense and drew a nine-year sentence for the July shooting and a shooting at his father’s funeral.
Nai Vang’s plea deal is scheduled to be finalized Monday in Ramsey County District Court.
Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 21.