Murder of Stuart Tay

Tay's parents immigrated from Singapore to the United States. Beginning in 1976 the family resided in Orange County, California. The family was Chinese American in terms of their ethnic background. The planned robbery never occurred. ==The murder==

On New Year's Eve 1992, the perpetrators lured Tay to the back yard of the Buena Park, California residence of Abraham Acosta. Kirn Kim acted as a lookout. Prosecutors said that the perpetrators had made preparations before the murder, having dug a grave 24 hours prior. Tay did not die immediately, so the perpetrators forced Tay to drink rubbing alcohol. His mouth was then taped shut. After Tay died, he was buried in the grave. Acosta had taken $100 from Tay's wallet. The authorities discovered Tay's body at the Acosta residence. Orange County authorities stated that Tay's death occurred due to asphyxiation on vomit; authorities argued that this was most likely due to the head injuries, and that the taping of the nose and mouth may have quickened his death. ==Criminal trials and sentencing==

Charles Choe pleaded guilty to first degree murder and acted as the key prosecution witness in exchange for being prosecuted as a juvenile instead of as an adult. On Friday July 1, 1994, Kirn Kim and Abraham Acosta were convicted of first degree murder. Acosta was convicted of ambushing his victim. Jurors acquitted Kim of ambushing his victim. Even though Acosta had taken $100 from Tay, jurors acquitted Acosta of killing for financial gain. Choe was sent to a CYA facility. Kirn Young Kim, CDCR#J40983, was admitted on February 9, 1995 and was incarcerated at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility. Kirn Kim had been transferred to the Donovan prison near San Diego by 2002. ==Aftermath==

Rene Lynch of the Los Angeles Times said, "The sophisticated murder scheme and the sheer senselessness of the killing grabbed headlines from the start" and that residents of Orange County were "shocked" "because the assailants and the victim were such unlikely suspects." In 1995, a court awarded Alfred and Linda Tay, the parents of the deceased victim, over $1 million from four of the killers, while the parents of Tay reached a $100,000 settlement with a fifth killer. Kirn Young Kim was paroled in 2012. While the plot of the film Better Luck Tomorrow was loosely based on the Tay murder, and director Justin Lin said that he had tracked the Tay incident in newspapers, the film is described to be a work of fiction that pulls from multiple influences. ==See also==