Funeral set for brothers shot in Bucks County home. 'Jeffrey and Nelson were strong young men'

Staff reports
·4 min read

Funeral services have been set for the Council Rock students, brothers who were just 9 and 13, who were shot and killed earlier this month.

Jeffrey and Nelson Tini died Friday, spending days on life support after authorities say their mother carried out a deliberate plan to take their lives days before. Trinh Nguyen has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and attempted homicide for fatally shooting the boys and trying to shoot another as she fled the family's Upper Makefield home on May 2.

"Both these boys were taken from us too soon and will truly be missed by all who came to know them," reads their shared obituary with a photo of the older boy with his arm protectively around his smiling younger brother.

They would be found in their beds with gunshot wounds to their heads by police and their aunt. Her 22-year-old son, who lived on the Timber Ridge Road property that was shared by the family, escaped injury when the gun police say Nguyen pointed at him jammed. He ran into Nguyen as he left for work, court documents state.

Jeffrey "JT" Tini, 13, and his brother, Nelson Tini, 9, were shot in their home Monday, May 2, 2022. Their mother, Trinh Nguyen has been charged.
Jeffrey "JT" Tini, 13, and his brother, Nelson Tini, 9, were shot in their home Monday, May 2, 2022. Their mother, Trinh Nguyen has been charged.

Fatal shooting:'Please call 911! My children are Dead in their bed': Upper Makefield mom left note, now charged with murder, DA says

Funeral services will be held Tuesday, May 17 at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Newtown, according to their obituary.

"Jeffrey and Nelson were strong young men," the obituary reads. "They were avid sports players, with a love for the game of Baseball. Jeffrey was an awesome swimmer, winning hundreds of medals and was also skilled in MMA. Nelson loved playing Baseball, was an amazing skier, had a passion for sneakers, and most of all just talking and playing with his friends."

It says they are survived by their father, Edward Tini, of Philadelphia.

More:DA says Trinh Nguyen shot her sons. Why it can be hard to spot danger when parents kill

The boys have been remembered as good athletes and students, and their deaths have devastated the community.

Jeffrey, known as JT, was an elite swimmer and eighth-grader at Newtown Middle School. His brother, Nelson, loved baseball and was also a good swimmer. He was a third-grader at Sol Feinstone Elementary School.

More:Bucks County brothers killed in Upper Makefield home die from injuries

Tini and the boys' mother were divorced, and she was in the process of being evicted from the home the couple and their children once shared. On May 3, she was to be physically removed from the home, according to court documents.

Authorities said Nguyen had planned to kill her children at least a week before the shooting.

On April 25, she wrote a will with information on what to do with her and her sons' ashes, police said.

Nguyen allegedly also left a note in her minivan, where she was found hours after police said she fled her home.

"Please call 911! My children are Dead in their bed at 119 Timber Ridge Rd 18940," the note read, according to police.

On Monday, Nguyen, 38, was arraigned on two charges of first-degree murder and attempted homicide, which are felonies, as well as misdemeanors of possessing an instrument of crime and drug possession. She remains in county prison, held without bail.

In the criminal complaint, police said Nguyen denied fleeing after the shooting. She said she drove to New Jersey to purchase heroin to kill herself, telling authorities that she had never purchased drugs before.

When she was arrested at the Washington Crossing United Methodist Church, she appeared to be under the influence of an "unknown substance," and was in an decreased state of consciousness, police said.

Along with the note about her children, bags of suspected heroin, empty bags of heroin packages, blood swabs and ammunition were found in her vehicle, court documents allege.

Investigators work on the scene of an Upper Makefield home where two boys, 10 and 13 years old, were shot Monday morning. Their mother, 38-year-old Trinh Nguyen, was arrested and charged in the shooting, according to Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub.
Investigators work on the scene of an Upper Makefield home where two boys, 10 and 13 years old, were shot Monday morning. Their mother, 38-year-old Trinh Nguyen, was arrested and charged in the shooting, according to Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub.

More:Council Rock community mourns brothers in Upper Makefield shooting

More:Upper Makefield mom who police say shot sons, 9 and 13, was facing eviction Tuesday

Authorities have not released a motive, however Nguyen and her sons were facing eviction for failing to pay about $11,000 in rent to her landlord, her ex-sister-in-law, Corinna Tini-Melchiondo.

She was also in a custody dispute with Nguyen at the time of the shooting. In court documents, Tini opposed Nguyen taking Nelson to Vietnam to visit her family. He believed she would take their son there and not return, those documents state. Nguyen, in court documents, denied the claim.

In the filing, Tini said Nguyen was a flight risk and "presented as classic parent kidnapper."

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Funeral set for Bucks brothers allegedly shot in home by their mother