Oberlin professor and woman killed; son charged

Police went to a vehicle that appeared to be smoking or on fire in a parking lot at Oberlin College’s conservatory on the morning of October 28. They sought the registered owner, Daniel Jones, 31, and went to his home to check on his family when they could not find him at the scene. Inside, officers found Pipo Nguyen-Duy, 64, an Oberlin College faculty member who taught studio art and photography, and Thi Tran Phong, 56, dead after being shot repeatedly, according to authorities.

Jones, who was Nguyen-Duy’s son and Phong’s stepson, was later located about a mile away and taken into custody. He faces charges of six homicides, four felony assaults, and tampering with evidence. He did not enter a plea at his initial court appearance. His bond was set at $1.5 million before a judge ordered it doubled. A further hearing had not been publicly scheduled.

The college issued a shelter-in-place order after police notified it of the incident, then lifted the order after authorities determined there was no threat to campus or the wider community. College President Carmen Twillie Ambar told students Nguyen-Duy’s death was a devastating loss and said the campus would honor his life.

Nguyen-Duy had taught at Oberlin since 1998. He was born in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States as a political refugee in 1975. The investigation is ongoing.