NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — “He was an upstanding citizen. Very caring and very loving person who absolutely did not, you know, deserve to die such a violent death,” said Khanh Nguyen-Dufour of her beloved father, Long Van Nguyen.
On the morning of August 26, 84-year-old Nguyen was weed whacking a rental property on Westpark Court in Algiers when a vehicle rammed into him and drove off.
“His body, I mean, it was just on the ground, mangled, laid there probably 20 to 30 minutes is what we estimate,” said Khanh Nguyen-Dufour.
Nguyen helplessly laid there until several neighbors drove by and saw him on the concrete.
“He said ‘Truck hit me! Truck hit me!’ and I said ‘Truck hit you?’ and he said ‘Yea, truck hit me, Yea truck hit me,’ and that was the last thing I heard from him,” said neighbor Carl Cain, who was one of the first people on the scene.
Nguyen was rushed to University Medical Center for emergency surgery but died two days later.
Nguyen’s family remembers him as a kind and selfless man, a hard worker with a huge heart.
“He love the children, he love the children, he love the grandchildren. He do everything for family,” said Thuong Nguyen, Nguyen’s widow.
Before he died, Nguyen told his loved ones that a silver F-150 hit him. So far, there’s no suspect. but his family isn’t giving up.
“Well, we miss you so much. We know that you are one of our guardian angels now and we actually would love your help in helping solve this case,” said Nguyen-Dufour.
Nguyen’s family is working with Crimestoppers to offer a $5,000 dollar reward to anyone who has information that leads to an arrest. The case remains under investigation at this time.
Nguyen leaves behind his wife, seven children and 20 grandchildren.
