Sun Cha Kim was “a hunter”.
After immigrating to the United States from Seoul, South Korea to provide for her family, the 69-year-old worked “two to three jobs,” although she spoke “very little English.” But the mother of two never complained and was seen as a “rock” to her three grandchildren.
“Stay strong in life … when you are happy, I am happy,” she told her grandchildren during weekly phone calls, according to a verified GoFundMe fundraiser.
Kim is one of eight people fatally shot by 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long during a frenzied Tuesday in three massage parlors in the Atlanta area, an attack that has fueled fears of anti-Asian violence. Authorities say Long, facing several charges, admitted to the murders, but insisted his actions were motivated by sexual addiction issues rather than race.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner on Friday released the names of four victims who were shot at Atlanta’s Gold Massage Spa and Aroma Therapy Spa, including Kim, 74-year-old Soon C. Park, 51-year-old Hyun J. Grant and 63- – year old Yong A. Yue. The medical examiner concluded that Park, Grant and Yue suffered fatal gunshot wounds to the head, while Kim died from a shot to the chest.
“My grandmother was an angel, it is excruciating to have her taken away in such a horrific way,” Kim’s granddaughter said in a statement related to GoFundMe on Friday night. “As an immigrant, my grandmother just wanted to grow old with my grandfather and see her children and grandchildren live the life she never lived.”
The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday released the names of the other four victims who were shot at Young’s Asian Massage, Long’s first target. According to CCTV, he spent an hour in Young’s, in Acworth, before the shooting. Those victims have been identified as Daoyou Feng, 44; Delaina Ashley Yaun Gonzalez, a 33-year-old mother of two who was on a date night with her husband; Paul Andre Michels, a 54-year-old business owner who had been married for more than two decades; and Xiaojie Tan, a 49-year-old who appeared to own at least two massage parlors in Atlanta.
Elcias R. Hernandez-Ortiz, a Spanish man from Acworth, was shot at Young’s and is currently in hospital for his injuries.
About an hour later, three people were found dead at the Gold Massage Spa in Atlanta, including Grant. Another person was fatally shot in the Aroma Therapy Spa across the road. Grant’s son, 23-year-old Randy Park, told The Daily Beast on Thursday that “she was a single mother of two children who have devoted her entire life to raising them.”
According to the Los Angeles TimesKim moved to Atlanta more than 15 years ago and was living in Gold Spa at the time of the shooting, where she helped feed and wash the workers.
“She was pure in heart and the most selfless woman I knew,” added Kim’s granddaughter in GoFundMe. She represented everything I wanted to be as a woman, with no hate or bitterness in her heart. People close to me knew my grandmother was my rock. “
‘Having her taken away by such a heinous crime as a perfectly healthy elderly woman broke my heart. I will never see her again, but I have only happy memories of her and the beautiful life she lived, ”the statement added.
While police have not released details about the victims or many details about Long’s alleged shooting, family and friends have provided details about the hard-working people who lost their lives.
Soon, Park’s son-in-law, Scott Lee, said in an interview with the New York Times that the 74-year-old worked at Gold Spa and “got along so well with her family.” Lee added that she had previously lived in New York, where many of her relatives still live, before moving to Atlanta.
In a statement to The Daily Beast, Yong Yue’s two sons described their devastation from the loss of their “beloved mother” and said “words cannot adequately describe our grief.”
“Thank you to all those who have reached out to offer support and words of encouragement. At this point, as the matter has received so much attention, we ask … the media and the public to respect our family’s privacy while we mourn and while we make arrangements for our mother’s funeral, ” the statement, issued by attorney BJay Pak, a former US Attorney General for Georgia’s Northern District said.
In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitutionher sons described their mother, a 63-year-old licensed massage therapist, as a hard worker. She was excited to return to work after being fired last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, they said.
Robert Peterson, 38, told the newspaper that his mother was the kind of caring person who would send someone flowers, food, or gifts with the leftover money she had saved. She loved movies, reading and soap operas.
“My mother hasn’t done anything wrong,” added Peterson. “And she deserves recognition for being human, a community person like everyone else. None of those people deserved what had happened to them. “
Yue’s grandson, 24-year-old Alijah Peterson, also praised his grandmother in a Facebook tribute on Wednesday, calling her “someone who saw my mistakes … and always let me know, it takes a real friend.”
“You made me such a better person, you corrected things that I thought were not wrong in my best interest,” Peterson wrote alongside a photo of the couple. ‘I love you forever and you didn’t deserve this. Watch out and protect me grandma. “