by Steve Thomas
Staff Writer
Services will be held tomorrow for slain Houston Police Department officer and University of Houston alumnus Cuong "Tony" Trinh.
Trinh, 25, was killed Sunday morning at his family's convenience store in southwest Houston. He had volunteered to work at the store while his family was at a reunion.
Trinh, a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity, graduated from UH in 1993 with a bachelor of arts in psychology. After graduation, Trinh joined the U.S. Navy, intent on becoming a Navy SEAL. He was discharged from the Navy a year later due to an injury suffered in training.
He returned to Houston and joined HPD in 1994. He was assigned to the missing persons unit in the Juvenile Division at the time of his death.
Members of Beta Theta Pi who knew Trinh described him as "an all-around good guy, easygoing, without a mean bone in his body." They said they were shocked when they heard the news of Trinh's death.
"Naturally, your first reaction is disbelief," said Ryan Galvez, a friend and former UH student. "Usually when a guy graduates, you don't see much of him anymore. But we had just seen Tony and his girlfriend last month at a crawfish boil. It makes you wonder how something like this could happen."
"It still doesn't seem real," said Bob Biggerstaff, a friend and fraternity brother of Trinh's. "If he was on duty (at the time of his death), it would have been a little easier to accept. But this - nobody knows why, and probably never will."
Galvez seemed particularly disturbed, because he said he had noticed some recent changes in Trinh.
"The last time I saw him, he looked more mature, more adultlike," Galvez said. "He seemed to be enjoying what he was doing - helping kids who were caught in a gang setting. His death seems like such a waste. He was only a year older than me."
Another fraternity member, who asked not to be named, said Trinh loved his work as well as the idea of a long career in law enforcement. He said Trinh had recently interviewed for a position with the Drug Enforcement Agency.
"While we were in school at UH, Tony always said he wanted to be a U.S. marshal," Biggerstaff said. "He knew he had to get experience before he could do that, so he joined the Navy and later HPD. That's probably why he wanted to join the DEA."
Biggerstaff agreed with other members of the fraternity in saying Trinh was a special person.
"It sounds kind of hokey, but the guy always had a smile on his face," Biggerstaff said. "People used to think he was goofy because he always had a smile. But they later realized he was just a really easygoing, happy guy. Tony had such a great outlook on life."
Funeral services for Trinh will held at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Don Coleman Community Coliseum, 1050 Dairy Ashford next to Tully Stadium.