Hearing Continued For Upper Makefield Mom Charged With Killing Sons

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, PA — A preliminary hearing scheduled for April 4 for an Upper Makefield mother charged with murdering her two young sons in 2022 has been continued.

The hearing had been scheduled before District Judge Michael Petrucci in Newtown, but was continued due to conflicts with the judge and the court schedule.

"It’s due to be rescheduled. We just have not cleared a new date with all parties yet,” said court staff.

Trinh Nguyen, 39, has been charged with murdering her two young sons - nine-year-old Nelson Tini and 13-year-old Jeffrey Tini – at their Upper Makefield home on Timber Ridge Road in May 2022. She is also charged with attempted criminal homicide, possessing an instrument of crime with intent and possession of a controlled substance.

Nguyen has been in custody since Monday, May 2, 2022, when investigators said she shot both of her sons in their beds and attempted to shoot a neighbor at 119 Timber Ridge Road. Her sons, died four days later at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“This defendant’s murder of two of her sons is unconscionable and horrific. We will do what needs to be done to seek justice for all of them,” said District Attorney Matt Weintraub last spring.

In a criminal complaint filed on May 9, 2022, Bucks County and Upper Makefield detectives say Nguyen, who was facing eviction from her home, planned the killing at least a week earlier, leaving a handwritten will dated April 25, 2022, that instructed the recipient of what to do with her and her sons remains.

Upper Makefield Police were dispatched at 7:05 a.m. on May 2, 2022, to the residence for a report of an armed subject. Gianni Melchiondo, the 22-year-old nephew of her ex-husband and her neighbor, told police that Nguyen handed him a box of photos and asked him to give the box to her ex-husband.

When Melchiondo turned around to face Nguyen, he saw her pointing a black revolver to his face. Nguyen pulled the trigger two times, but the gun did not fire, he told police. He then engaged Nguyen, wrapped her in a bear hug and eventually disarmed her, police said.

After disarming her, Melchiondo cleared the firearm, observing that there were multiple rounds inside. Nguyen fled the area in a white Toyota Sienna minivan and an alert was issued to locate her.

At the scene, law enforcement personnel were advised that Nguyen lived with two minor sons, Jeffrey and Nelson Tini. Melchiondo’s mother and a responding Upper Makefield Police officer checked the Nguyen residence. Upon entry, both boys were found with gunshot wounds to their heads.

The boys were transported by police and EMS personnel to St. Mary Medical Center and then to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Bucks County Detectives, Upper Makefield Police, Lower Makefield Police, Newtown Township Police, Newtown Borough Police and Central Bucks Crime Scene Unit were all involved in the investigation to locate Nguyen and secure the scene.

At 11:30 a.m., law enforcement located Nguyen inside her minivan parked at the United Methodist Church in Washington Crossing. She was removed from the minivan, taken into custody, and then taken to St. Mary Medical Center due to the indication that she was under the influence.

During her arraignment later that day before District Judge Petrucci, Nguyen said she did not flee. She claimed to have traveled to New Jersey to obtain narcotics, which she ingested in an attempt to kill herself, according to a criminal complaint. She added that she had not used drugs in the past, the complaint says.

A search warrant was executed on the minivan, and detectives located .38-caliber ammunition, several empty suspected heroin packages, several full suspected heroin packages, and swabs of suspected blood, among other evidence.

A note was located on the passenger-side dashboard and seized. The note read: “Please call 911! My children are Dead in their bed at 119 Timber Ridge Rd. 18940.”

Detectives also served a search warrant at the Nguyen residence, locating and seizing a handwritten will dated April 25, 2022 – a week before the shooting – that instructed the recipient on what to do with her ashes and the ashes of her sons. The will was signed, “TRINH NGUYEN.”

In addition, a .38-caliber Ruger revolver was located from the front of the Melchiondo residence.

During this investigation, detectives learned that Nguyen was being evicted from her residence and was given notice to vacate by Tuesday, May 3, 2022.