Oberlin College Professor Pipo Nguyen-Duy and Wife Killed; Son Charged With Murder

Oberlin College is mourning Pipo Nguyen-Duy, a longtime professor of studio art and photography who was found shot to death with his wife in their off-campus home in Oberlin, Ohio, on Wednesday, Oct. 28. His 31-year-old son has been charged with murder.

Police identified the second victim as Tran Thi Phong, 56, Nguyen-Duy’s wife and the suspect’s stepmother, according to ABC News and the Lorain Daily.

Who was Pipo Nguyen-Duy?

Nguyen-Duy, 64, had taught at Oberlin since 1998. In a message to students and staff, college President Carmen Twillie Ambar wrote that he was born in Vietnam, came to the U.S. as a political refugee in 1975 and became an internationally exhibited artist whose honors included a Guggenheim Fellowship.

“Pipo was beloved. During his years at Oberlin, he touched all of us through his passion for photography,” Ambar wrote. She said counseling would be available to students, faculty and staff and that the campus would gather in the coming days to honor his life.

What happened in the Oberlin shooting?

According to police accounts reported by the Lorain Daily and Cleveland 19, the investigation began around 8:57 a.m. Wednesday, when firefighters were called to a smoldering vehicle in the Oberlin Conservatory parking lot. Police said the Toyota hatchback, which had Oregon plates, had a wood stove in the back seat and a makeshift chimney through the roof; a cardboard box in the front seat was the source of the smoldering.

Officers found the car’s registered owner in the 200 block of Shipherd Circle at about 10:19 a.m. and took the person into custody. ABC News reported that a resident had called police about a “wet disheveled man” at her door. After speaking with the suspect, officers went to the family’s home on South Pleasant Street for a welfare check and forced entry around 10:27 a.m. Nguyen-Duy was found on the first floor and Phong in an upstairs bedroom; police said both had multiple gunshot wounds.

The college briefly issued a shelter-in-place order that morning. It was lifted once police confirmed there was no danger to the campus or community, Ambar said.

Daniel Jones of Ashland, Oregon: the suspect

Police identified the suspect as Daniel Jones, 31, of Ashland, Oregon, Nguyen-Duy’s son. Reports differ on the name history. ABC News, citing the prosecutor, described Jones as formerly known as Asia Nguyen-Duy. Cleveland 19 reported that court records show a legal name change in 2025, and that in court the suspect said they are gender-neutral and prefer to be called Asia Nguyen-Duy.

The suspect faces 11 charges: six counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault and one count of tampering with evidence, per the Lorain Daily.

What prosecutors said in court

At a Thursday hearing in Oberlin Municipal Court, prosecutor Zachary Simonoff said the suspect asked a stranger to record a video and, in it, said, “Everything I did was on my own accord and I take full responsibility,” ABC News reported. Simonoff said that, according to a police report, the suspect told officers they had “killed his family.”

Police found loose ammunition in the car, and Cleveland 19 reported that the prosecutor described packaging for a 17-round Glock magazine. The weapon has not been recovered. ABC News reported that the suspect’s mother in Oregon told police her child needs medication. No motive has been announced, and the suspect has not entered a plea.

Judge Farah L. Emeka set bail at $3 million, double the $1.5 million the prosecutor requested, citing “the egregious nature of the charges,” ABC News reported. The case was bound over to Lorain County Common Pleas Court, where a grand jury will consider an indictment.

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