Old dispute might have led to killing in Lowell

LOWELL -- An ongoing dispute might have led to the fatal shooting of a Lowell teenager Saturday night, when gunshots were fired indiscriminately into a house where the victim was playing cards and watching movies on the eve of his 16th birthday, prosecutors said.

Authorities, however, did not elaborate on the nature of the dispute or whether they believe that Vuthavy Phay, a Lowell High School freshman, was a target in the shooting.

In a hushed room at Lowell District Court packed with Phay's relatives and friends, David Phin, 20, and Roth Em, 19, both of Lowell, were ordered held without bail yesterday on murder charges. The suspects pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to return to court May 7 for a pretrial hearing.

Assistant District Attorney Kerry Ahern said Em had told Phin, his uncle, about a running argument with someone at the Fletcher Street residence. The pair then approached the house, where Phin allegedly used a handgun to fire several shots at the building.

Witnesses told authorities they heard "loud pops" near midnight and then saw Phay bleeding from the neck. The victim had been sitting on a bed near a window with his two sisters and several friends when he was shot.

One witness rushed toward the window and allegedly saw Phin standing under a streetlight with Em, holding a black handgun, Ahern said. The suspects were well known to the witness, Ahern said.

After the two men were arrested, Em told authorities that his uncle had pulled the trigger, prosecutors said.

After the shooting, friends took Phay to Lowell General Hospital, which flew him to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. He was pronounced dead early Sunday.

Stephen Neyman, a lawyer appointed to represent Em, said his client has not made any statement that suggests "he was looking for this to happen or that he wanted this to happen."

The state's evidence, Neyman said, contains "absolutely no indication that Roth Em had any criminal intent."

Outside the courtroom, Sophan Chan, 22, the victim's brother-in-law, shook his head as he waited for the arraignment.

"I don't know why anyone would do that to him," Chan said. "He wasn't the target. They weren't aiming at him."

Phay, the youngest of eight children from a Cambodian family, was a basketball fan and had been looking forward to obtaining an automobile learner's permit.

After Phay's family left the courtroom following a short arraignment before Judge Neil Walker, Em's mother, Chaka Em, stood outside, dabbing her eyes, and asking a court interpreter when she could see her son.

The interpreter, Keto Tan, said Chaka Em told him her son had played cards at home most of Saturday night, left to visit friends, "and the next thing she knew he was arrested."

The suspect accompanied the police voluntarily, his mother said.