Rosemead man sentenced for killing, burying his mother

A Rosemead man was sentenced Aug. 14 to 26 years to life in state prison for killing his mother and burying her body in the backyard of the condominium they shared, according to Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

A jury on March 20 found John Taylor Huynh, 30, guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Hong Tu Phuong, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Cynthia Valenzuela.

On May 20, 2011, Huynh walked into the Alhambra Police Department and told officers he had killed his mother sometime in 2001, Valenzuela said.

The body of Phuong, 57, was found wrapped in a sheet in a shallow grave in the backyard of a condominium in 9400 block of Cortada Street in El Monte, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.

During the trial, Huynh testified that he moved out of the condominium a week after killing his mother and gave excuses about her whereabouts, telling people she had moved to Vietnam or died of cancer, prosecutors said.

-- Veronica Rocha and Maloy Moore