Tragic story out of San Diego... Earlier this month, 36-year-old Kimberly Maokhamphiou was visiting relatives in Haltom City, Texas during a cross-country family holiday road trip, when she was shot to death by an unknown assailant: San Diego mom of 3 slain in Texas.
Maokhamphiou was cleaning out and organizing her family's car when a man approached her and shot her during a brief struggle. The bullet went through her arm and into her heart, and she died a short time later at a hospital. She would have celebrated her birthday the next day:
Cpl. Daniel Pearson of the Haltom City Police Department said Friday that a motive for the shooting has not been determined, but it may have been an attempted robbery gone bad. Maokhamphiou did not have a purse with her, but the assailant may have thought that she did, he said.Police have released surveillance photos and a sketch of a man who investigators are calling a "person of interest." The man fits the description of the person seen fleeing the scene of the shooting. Anyone who can identify this man is asked to call Haltom City police at 817-222-7000.
A $10,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of the assailant, described only as a black man who drove off in a mid-90s Crown Victoria.
Originally from Laos, Maokhamphiou had lived in San Diego since she was 5 years old. She was employed as a caretaker.
Her husband, Johnny Xeunbane, 47, who also emigrated from Laos, is a programmer at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. They also have a 13-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son.