The tragic death of a 16 year old celebrating the end of his sophomore year in high school left a mother grasping for answers.
Nathan Chanthavong is one of three teens killed in Oakland on June 10 in separate incidents. Police released his name earlier this week.
“I’m lost. I feel hopeless,” his mother Vicky Chanthavong said to Fox2.
Chanthavong raised Nathan and his 13-year-old brother and 15-year-old sister as a single mom.
A GoFundMe campaign set up by the mother has so far raised more than $18,000.
“We ask that you keep our family in your thoughts and prayers as we navigate the difficult days ahead,” she writes. “Nathan’s absence leaves a void that can never be filled but knowing that we have the love and support of our community gives us strength to carry on.”
She told the San Francisco Chronicle that Nathan planned to connect with mentors and potentially a job through the Youth Employment Partnership.
She described her son as a “really good kid” who “got along with everyone.”
His aunt Eleannor Chanthavong said he was staying with her the night of the murder but snuck out of the house after midnight.
“I woke up,” Eleannor told Fox2. “He wasn’t there…we need justice.”
She urged the killer to turn himself in.
“I want to give him one last hug and tell him I love him,” Vicky said.
The other two teens killed June 10 have been identified as 18-year-old Julian Barns and Jahhoury McGlothin.
No arrests have been made in any of the cases.
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.
We are supported through donations and such charitable organizations as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. All donations are tax deductible and can be made here.
