Dothan man charged with murder, rape of teen | WDHN

DOTHAN, Ala. (WDHN) — A Dothan man who investigators say killed and sodomized a teenage girl in her home shortly before Christmas has been indicted by a Houston County grand jury.

Minh Thanh Nguyen was charged on Thursday June 13, with a provisional trial date set for mid-September.

Nguyen was arrested in December 2023 and charged with murder-rape and murder-robbery for the death of 17-year-old Duong Thi Thuy Troung.

Troung was found by her mother and sister on Dec. 9, lying face down on her bed in her Hartford Highway home, seriously injured. She died after being rushed to a Dothan hospital.

According to the autopsy report, Truong had been strangled and sodomized by a two-foot-long yoga bar.

According to Dothan police investigators, Nguyen and Truong's mother had previously been in a relationship and lived in Mississippi before moving to Dothan. The couple later separated, allegedly because Truong and his two sisters did not like Nguyen.

At the time of Nguyen's arrest, he was charged with one count of murder; however, that charge was upgraded to capital murder after investigators said they discovered Truong had been sexually assaulted and had items stolen from her room.

Although the charges against Nguyen carry the possibility of the death penalty, it is currently unclear whether the Houston County District Attorney's Office will seek such a sentence. WDHN has reached out for more information.