Man accused in Holyoke Mall shooting indicted for 1st

HOLYOKE — A Springfield man who claimed he fired a gun in self-defense and accidentally killed a employee of a nail salon in the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside has been indicted for murder in the first degree.

Kenneth Rodriguez-Santana, 23, was indicted Monday by a Hampden County grand jury. If he is convicted, the charge carries a mandatory life sentence, said James Leydon, spokesman for Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni.

Rodriguez-Santana is accused of killing Trung Tran, 33, of West Springfield when he discharged his gun on Jan. 28, in a nail salon in the Holyoke Mall. Tran died at the scene of the shooting, according to court records.

Rodriguez-Santana remained at the scene of the shooting and was arrested immediately. He was arraigned on murder charges two days later in Holyoke District Court and has been held without the right to bail.

The indictment now calls for the case to be transferred to Hampden Superior Court in Springfield, Leydon said.

The shooting took place at about 7 p.m. in the A Touch of Beauty Hair and Nail Salon on the first floor of the mall. Rodriguez-Santana told police he and his girlfriend were getting pedicures when a man, who he said was his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend, confronted them in the business.

Rodriguez-Santana told police the man, who has not been identified in court records, lifted up his shirt to show a gun and said "You know what is about to happen." Rodriguez-Santana allegedly then pulled out his own 9 mm Glock and fired, striking Tran in the chest.

When police arrived they found panicked shoppers fleeing the building. Inside the nail salon, employees and two other people were trying to stop the bleeding and providing aid to Tran, court records say.

The other man fled. He has not been charged in the death, according to court records.

Rodriguez-Santana, an employee at Yankee Candle, was licensed to carry a gun, court records said.

Tran, who was also called Michael, was tending to the couple when the shooting took place.

A Vietnamese immigrant who was married with a young son, Tran was known as a hard worker who proudly purchased his own home. He worked at the salon for about five years.

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