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The man many knew from his University City fruit stand died from multiple knife wounds, but the motive of the attack remains unclear as does the perpetrator’s identity.
Don Ly, 68, of the 400 block of Vollmer Street — situated between Porter and Shunk streets — was stabbed multiple times in his neck, torso and right arm at 5:09 a.m. April 18, Officer Jill Russell of the Public Affairs Unit said. He was pronounced dead 22 minutes later at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
“It is very unjust and undeserving to all that is goodness in the world that his life ended so suddenly and violently,” his son, Leeto Ly, said in a guest column in The Daily Pennsylvanian, the college newspaper at University of Pennsylvania where Don Ly operated a fruit stand since 1995.
More than 20 years ago the Ly family sold its vegetable farm and plantation in South Vietnam to come to the United States where all four of his children have graduated from college, Leeto Ly said.
Ly’s killing is not believed to have been a robbery, according to published reports where Homicide Capt. James Clark indicates the victim’s jewelry and wallet remained when his body was discovered.
“Perhaps my father was a saint and he died to take away the killer’s sin,” Leeto Ly said. “Or it must have been Death itself to come and take my father’s life because his time on earth has ended. … If there is any justice left on earth, my mother is crying her heart out for it.”
To report information, call Homicide Division at 215-686-3334, text PPDTIP (773847) or visit phillypolice.com/forms.
Contact Managing Editor Amanda L. Snyder at asnyder@southphillyreview.com or ext. 117.
In this week’s Police Report:
It’s not the mailman
Prescription fix
Alleged gunman arrested
‘Masseuse’ arrested
Planning meeting
Neighbors needed
In this week’s Fire Report:
Fire fatalities
Web-exclusive Police Report:
Chilling crime
Alcohol altercation
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