ATLANTA — The metro Atlanta community is drawing closer to a heartbreaking milestone as it prepares to mark one year since eight people senselessly died in a shooting that targeted spas.
Wednesday will mark a year since the violent and deadly crime spree took the lives of eight people, six of who were of Asian descent. About a hundred people gathered in frigid weather at Blackburn Park in Brookhaven on Saturday to honor the lives taken on the night of March 16, 2021.
"She just wanted to work, to provide for her family, and enjoy life and her friends. Someone took that away from us at a time when me and my brother needed her the most," Robert Peterson, the son of Yong Ae Yue said.
Peterson is Yue's youngest son. Yue was born in South Korea and immigrated to the U.S. 40 years ago and kept her Korean heritage alive among her sons with weekly traditional dinners.
"Some have said this pain will go away, and I will smile again, but unfortunately, to be honest, that day has yet to come," Patterson said.
Yue was one of the six people of Asian descent who died at three different spa shootings in Acworth and Atlanta last year.
"My mom was more than her ethnicity. She was more than her job and she was more than the way she was killed," Peterson said. "Our family not only grieves on March 16th but every day because of the continued trauma that we see on our televisions in the increasing violence against AAPI communities and hate."
Robert Aaron Long admitted to being the shooter. After shooting five people at Young Asian Massage in Cherokee County, investigators said he drove about 30 miles south to Atlanta where he shot three women at Gold Spa and one woman across the street at Aromatherapy Spa.
Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon Wallace said during a previous hearing that investigators found no evidence of racial bias in his murderous actions. But the community said regardless of intent, lives were lost with ethnicity as a common thread.
"I think it's important for us to recognize what we can, what we can make happen if we continue to have conversations about violence against Asian Americans, violence against other communities of color, and really talk about the truth of what happened on March 16," Aisha Yaqoob Mahmood, executive director of the Asian American Advocacy Fund.
That's why advocates, community members and the victims' families joined together for a remembrance event hoping to honor the lives lost.
"I want our Atlanta community and all communities to remember that there were eight precious lives lost to horrific acts of violence, and I want us to be committed to fighting for that to not happen again," Phi Nguyen, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice said.
Patterson said it's a mission he won't take lightly and will carry out in honor of his mother.
"My mother lived so that we could have a better life and do better," he said. "She would want us to continue to live and make her proud by leaving an impact on the world."
These are the names of the eight victims:
- Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33
- Paul Andre Michels, 54
- Xiaojie Tan, 49
- Daoyou Feng, 44
- Soon Chung Park, 74
- Hyun JungGrant, 51
- Sun Cha Kim, 69
- Yong Ae Yue, 63
As for Long, he already pleaded guilty to four counts of murder and other charges in the shooting deaths of those in Cherokee County. He received four life sentences without parole and an additional 35 years.
Long now faces charges in Fulton County. The Fulton County District Attorney's Office said it plans to seek the death penalty, a sentence the victims' families support. His next court date is scheduled for April 19.