Trial Underway in Ellicott City Nail Salon Double Shooting

The trial of the Laurel man who police say shot his estranged girlfriend and her friend inside an Ellicott City nail salon in July of last year began Wednesday at Howard County Circuit Court.

Tuan Minh Pham, 36, is charged with two counts of attempted first- and second-degree murder for his alleged involvement in the shooting of Lan Hoan Mai Phan and Phuong Than Do at a nail salon in Shipley's Grant.

Both victims, Phan and Do, were in critical condition after the attack, but were later released from the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

Pham managed to elude authorities for eight months after the shooting before turning himself in to Howard County Police in March of 2013. America's Most Wanted featured Pham in September of last year in an attempt to help police locate him.

Assistant state's attorney Lisa Broten told the jury during opening statements at Pham's trial that at the time of the shooting there was a protective order prohibiting him from contacting his former girlfriend and possessing a firearm, according to Wayen Kirwan a spokesperson for the Howard County state's attorney's office.

Broten added that Pham shot Do because he thought Do was the brother of his former girlfriend's current boyfriend at the time.

Pham's defense attorney Howard Cardin told the jury that Pham and his family had received threats leading up to the attack at the nail salon, according to Kirwan.

The trial is expected to take about a week.

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