'My soul is broken,' mother of beaten teen says

'My soul is broken,' mother of beaten teen says
By Dong-Phuong Nguyen, Times Staff Writer
In print: Friday, July 11, 2008

TAMPA

From the day she was born, her mother's dream for her was that she go to college.

The family raised her to put education first so that she could one day contribute something positive to a society that gave her immigrant mother freedom.

The girl with the dark silky hair is supposed to be preparing for college at the University of Florida, where she has a full scholarship.

Instead, she lies limp in a hospital bed, unable to do simple things like swallow, talk or stand. She can blink her eyes, yet she cannot see.

"Her brain is damaged," her mother said Thursday during an interview conducted in Vietnamese. "My soul is broken."

The 18-year-old was a senior at East Bay High School on April 24, the night she was raped and her skull bashed while she was returning books to the Bloomingdale Regional Public Library.

In the months following, her family locked itself away from the world, stepping into a private, numbing hell that few can ever comprehend.
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