A 51-year-old habitual offender was sentenced to 45 years for his role in a double murder at a restaurant in Houston’s Little Saigon neighborhood in 2022, announced Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.

“Two of the three men responsible for this violent double murder have been brought to justice,” Ogg said. “Now we need the public’s help to find the third suspect and hold him accountable.”

Hieu Trong Nguyen pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 45 years in prison on Thursday.

Nguyen was one of three men who walked into Tai Loi, a Vietnamese restaurant at 12320 Bellaire Blvd., and fatally shot two men sitting at a booth on Oct. 5, 2022.

Hanh Nguyen, 63, and Long Nguyen, 51, were both killed. The slaying was caught on surveillance video, and detectives with the Houston Police Department were able to arrest and charge two of the shooters.

The motive for the double murder remains unclear, but minutes before it happened, the three suspects were at a different Vietnamese business less than two miles away, Café Window. They were seen on surveillance video at that restaurant trying to force the manager to pay $1,000 in an extortion scheme.

After a verbal altercation at Café Window, an armed security guard approached the three men and made them leave. The men appear to have driven directly to Tai Loi, where they walked in and almost immediately started shooting.

Investigators were able to arrest Nguyen and Bich Xuan Dang, who pleaded guilty earlier this summer to murder and was sentenced to 45 years in prison. The third man has not been apprehended. Anyone with information on that man is urged to call the Tip Line at Crime Stoppers of Houston at 713-222-TIPS (8477).

Assistant District Attorney Chris Condon, who is a chief in the DA’s Homicide Division, prosecuted the case with ADA George Lindsey, a chief in the DA’s Organized Crime Division.

“What these guys did was just horrific, and the evidence against them was overwhelming, which is probably why they chose to plead guilty instead of taking their chance with a jury,” Condon said. “Now, we hope to get some fresh leads on who and where the third man is so that the victims’ families can finally get some closure.”

Since he pleaded guilty, Nguyen cannot appeal the conviction or the prison sentence. He will have to serve at least half of his sentence before he will be eligible for parole.

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