Only Daughter of DTLA Shop Owner Stabbed to Death Over Theft of a Wig Writes Heartfelt Ode For Her Father

A shop owner of 20 years in Downtown's Fashion District was stabbed to death by one of two assailants this past Saturday afternoon after trying to stop the theft of a wig. Koreatown Life shared the gofundme for Tommy Lee, who was 56, posted by his daughter, Chaerin.

“I got to speak with one of [my father’s] neighbor store owners. She told me, ‘Tommy wasn’t fighting for himself. He was protecting all the small business owners there,” Chaerin writes on the fundraiser’s page for her father. “‘Because if you just let them steal easily, they are going to keep coming back. He was more like a brave, heroic figure to us.’”

New York Post reports that Tommy Lee was found unconscious with stab wounds by the time police arrived. However, the suspects were apprehended, both believed to be minors. 

“It is deeply saddening for me that my father is now gone, but as his only daughter, and the only remaining family member he has here in the United States, I know it is my duty to send him in peace,” Chaerin writes.