OAKLAND — Benjamin Lieu is a healthy, happy almost 11-month-old boy who will never know his father.
His mother, Kat, will tell him all she can about his dad, but has still not decided if she will ever explain to him why he is not in his life.
On the night of May 22, 2018, Hoan Lieu, 51, was shot to death in front of his then-pregnant wife by one of three masked men who broke into their home in the 4100 block of Carrington Street in East Oakland to rob them.
Lieu was in another room and his wife was sitting on a living room couch watching television when the robbers burst in. He heard the commotion, rushed out, and as his wife watched in terror, he was shot and died at her feet.
The case is still unsolved and Oakland police are appealing for the public’s help in identifying and arresting the suspects. There is up to $15,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest of the suspects and police have now also released a video of the vehicle, believed to be a newer SUV or Crossover, possibly silver in color, that they fled the scene in. Descriptions of the suspects are vague; between 5 feet 4 and 5 feet 6 with thin builds.
Lieu’s death was a violent end to a love story that had begun three years earlier when he met Kat in China where his family had immigrated from in the 1980s. Kat, now 39, is a kind and gentle person he was very proud and very protective of. He sponsored her coming to the United States and they married in December 2015. He was excited about the upcoming birth of Benjamin and was working three jobs to make sure his family had what they needed.
Kat and Benjamin now live with Lieu’s younger brother, Chris and his family.
Chris Lieu will always consider his brother, known as Harry, a hero for what he did. Without hesitation he says his brother “gave his life to defend his wife and unborn child.”
He said the family is “still getting back, trying to get on with our every day lives.” His mother still sheds tears when she looks at pictures of her murdered son and his father largely avoids talking at all about what happened.
Lieu said Benjamin is a “happy baby, always smiling” and has also provided his mother with solace. “I’d say having Benjamin allows her to not focus on the past,” Lieu said. “Having him allows her to move on and and live in the present,” even though she still “occasionally still feels the anger and sorrow and loneliness of not having anybody to share the joy and burden of bringing up Benjamin.”
He sad Kat has had some “jittery” moments since the killing but there have been less of them. “She gets withdrawn and wants to be by herself.” He said she was “more angry than usual” on the anniversary of her husband’s death.
She has not talked about her future plans, or whether she might return to China to raise her son. “Its probably too early for her to even think about that. She is focused now on how she is going to provide for Benjamin.”
Lieu says the family still hopes the suspects will be arrested and are glad police still have an active investigation. “We all want justice and closure,” he said.
A GoFundMe account set up after Hoan Lieu’s death to raise funds to support his wife and child is still active. It is at www.gofundme.com/7mo-pregnant-snl-kat-lost-husband. As of Monday it had raised almost $61,000 of a $100,000 goal.
Anyone with information about the suspects in the killing is asked to call police at 510-238-3821 or or the FBI at 415-553-7400 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.