Man Convicted of Murdering His Mother and Burying Her in Area Backyard

A man was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder for stabbing his mother and burying her body in the backyard of their rented condominium in El Monte in 2001.

A Pomona Superior Court jury deliberated for a day before convicting John Taylor Huynh, now 30, of first-degree murder.

Jurors also found true an allegation that Huynh personally used a knife during the crime.

Huynh walked into the Alhambra Police Department on May 20, 2011, and told authorities he had killed his mother, Hong Tu Phuong, some time in 2001, according to Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Valenzuela.

Huynh said he had buried the body in the backyard of the El Monte condominium, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Investigators found the woman's body in a shallow grave.

During the trial, Huynh testified that he moved out of the condominium a week after the killing, according to the District Attorney's Office.

When people asked where his mother was, Huynh offered various excuses, including that she had died of cancer or moved to Vietnam, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Huynh is facing 26 years to life in state prison, with sentencing set May 30 before Judge Thomas C. Falls.

—City News Service