Suspect recorded on video admitting to killing two professors

A suspect appeared in Lorain County court on Thursday, facing multiple murder charges for the deaths of two people found dead in their home.

Prosecutors stated that Asia Nguyen-Duy, 31, knocked on a stranger's door shortly after the killings. While covered in scratches and blood, the suspect asked the resident to record a video. In that footage, Nguyen-Duy admitted to killing their family members. The suspect claimed they were escaping a cult and accepted full responsibility for the actions.

Police initially received a report on Wednesday morning about a smoldering, modified vehicle. The car was parked in an Oberlin College lot and registered to Nguyen-Duy. Officers found loose ammunition and magazine packaging inside the vehicle. They located the suspect nearby and conducted a welfare check at the victims' residence. Inside, officers discovered Pipo Nguyen-Duy and Thi Tran Phong, both dead from multiple gunshot wounds.

Pipo Nguyen-Duy was a 64-year-old photographer and a longtime studio art professor at Oberlin College. Thi Tran Phong was 56. Court records indicate the suspect legally changed their name from Daniel Jones to Asia Nguyen-Duy in 2025. During the hearing, the suspect identified as gender-neutral. They were carried into the courtroom by several officers and rolled to the defense table in a chair.

Nguyen-Duy faces six counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault, and one count of tampering with evidence. A judge set bail at $3 million. The case has been bound over to county common pleas court.