Long Beach woman paralyzed after being stabbed while working at liquor store
Yongja Lee, 65, has been in the hospital for more than a month after she was stabbed. Her family is still looking for answers.
LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- A 65-year-old woman is paralyzed after she was stabbed in the neck in January while working at her store, Frank's Liquor, in Long Beach.
Yongja Lee and her husband moved to the United States in 2000. They were on the verge of retiring.
On Jan. 30, she was stabbed in the neck with a knife while working at the store, which is on East Broadway.
"It went in her neck so deep, it damaged her spinal cord, so she won't be able to move her legs and arms. It was a shock for us," said Ellyn Lee, Yongja's daughter.
Ellyn says the attack happened in front of her dad. She says doctors say there's a 5% to 10% chance her mom will get movement back in her body. She's also not able to speak.
"It was really hard for me to accept all of this. At first, I was in denial," Ellyn said.
Ellyn says it's been more than a month after the attack and she's still waiting for answers. She's hoping the person that did this is caught. She says the man who attacked her mother did not steal anything from their store. The suspect just attacked her mother and left.
Long Beach police are looking for a suspect described as a Black man, who is approximately 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighs 200 pounds. He is bald and has brown eyes. He was last seen in a red Adidas tracksuit top.
Eyewitness News reached out to Long Beach police and the department says the investigation is ongoing.
Kevin Voravong has been a loyal customer at Frank's Liquor store for six years and created a fundraiser to raise money for the Lee family. He says Yongja Lee was like a mom, giving him food and treating him like a son.
"When I came down I saw her on the ground. I just lost it. I just broke into tears. I just started yelling," Voravong said.
Ellyn says because her job lets her work from home, she's been working at the liquor store next to her dad to make sure he's safe.
"I feel scared leaving him alone at the store because of what happened to my mom," Ellyn said.
Yongja is currently in rehab trying to learn how to move her body again.
"I just want to raise enough money, just show them that they didn't come down to Long Beach just for this to happen," Voravong said.
Anyone with information can contact Long Beach police's Violent Crimes Detail at (562) 570-7250.
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