By KOMO (RVP news partner)
OTHELLO – The owner of a popular Rainier Valley hair salon brutally attacked by a group of teens earlier this month has died.
Family members say Danny Vega died Sunday morning after being in a weeks-long coma at the hospital.
Vega was attacked by three young men as he walked along the 4200 block of S. Othello Street at 7:45 p.m. on Nov. 15. Police said that during the assault, Vega lost consciousness and the attackers were able to steal several items from him. The attackers are still on the loose.
Vega was well known and loved in the local Filipino community, where he owned Danny Vega’s Hair Salon on 4001 South Willow Street.
His death wasn’t about the beginning of goodbye, but of the promise to never forget, says his niece Melanie Galmiba.
“We’re strong because my uncle is strong,” she said. “We want to be strong because we want to make him proud.”
Vega was a proud and openly gay man — a hair stylist in the neighborhood for decades.
Galmiba says it made her uncle a target.
“I feel very strongly that it is a hate crime,” she said.
Week after week, Filipino groups made public pleas to take back the streets, handing out flyers about the attack and lighting candles in his honor.
It’s the sort of love that Vega’s sister Thelma Galmiba was proud to see.
“Overwhelming support from his friends, family, the whole community,” she said.
The family’s hope has now turned to action.
“Now that he’s gone, we need to fight hard as a family to find those people,” Melanie Galmiba said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Seattle Police Homicide and Assault Unit at: 206-233-5000. You can remain anonymous.
Who to know, where to eat & what to do in one of America’s most diverse zip codes!
{ 29 comments }
This story makes me sick to my stomach. What is wrong with people today?? Many prayers to Danny’s family.
I sure hope the SPD considers this a hate crime so that FBI resources can be deployed to help catch the thugs who did this.
Tom T, why would FBI resources be deployed if it’s considered a hate crime? I’ve never heard of that.
This is terrible. It makes me very sad and it also makes me very angry. My thoughts and sympathies are with his family and friends–and all of us who are out and about in the neighborhood.
What a shame. Sadly, if they are caught we will have to listen about what great kids they are, they are wrongly accused, they are victims.
I hope they are all found brutally beaten.
Horrible news. Mayor McGinn says that the police department should be reduced in force because of decreased time in police response to 911 response calls. Meanwhile, people are getting killed on the streets – near light-rail stations, no less. If we cut back on cops, who will be on the streets protecting us? Rhetorical question.
Hate to say it, but looks like it’s time to get that concealed weapons permit.
Gidge,
I don’t know all the particulars as to whether there is automatic escalation to Federal level or not but this case surely seems as troubling as the recent issues in the Amish community in Ohio (seriously). If the FBI has time for that crime, I sure hope they have time for this and that the SPD engage them.
Info on the Amish hate crimes and FBI involvement at:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57330387/fbi-arrests-7-amish-on-hate-crimes-charges/
Tom T
MarkB-i love you for your comment.
The city of Seattle and the recently elected council people should do more than what is expected to make gay men feel safe in Seattle and near the LightRail. I’m appalled at the lack of urgency that the elected officials have shown to get to the bottom of this crime. There should be assurances or incentives so gay business owners feel safe to own a business in Rainier Valley.
Is any certain it was a hate crime? To me it really appears like just another mugging in the valley. Perhaps the “hate” escalated it—but I would not be surprised to learn that Mr. Vega just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Is it really likely that the “young men” knew their victim well enough to determine his sexual orientation? That, certainly, would be a factor in the crime.
In any case; it is a tragedy, and the city needs to step up police presence and the investigation. Muggings in the valley are becoming too many and close between.
They beat a man to death and “it really appears like just another mugging in the valley”? I sure hope not. I don’t know of anyone else who has been beat to death in a mugging in the valley or elsewhere in town recently.
If you have his valuables why kill him? Hate sure seems like a probable reason.
Tonight I walked quickly on Othello from the light rail toward Rainier. Several others were walking briskly. I wondered if the other walkers knew about the recent murder on Othello. Then I wondered why no information was provided to the public about the attackers. For example, exactly where was the attack? How were the attackers described? It’s easy to see how thugs could drive by and target someone for bludgeoning. What about other assaults related to light rail? Where’s South Seattle Cop when you need him? Should light rail’s potential victims be carrying baseball bats, large sticks or firearms? I don’t mind paying the big bucks to park downtown and avoid the whole mess, but not everyone has that choice…
“To me it really appears like just another mugging in the valley”
And if three white teenagers beat a 58 year old black man to death we’d hear that too, right?
When caught they should be tried as adults….
This terrible senseless murder should be a call to the community to stand together as a the united diversified community that won’t tolerate this or any level of hate anymore. The South End should set the example and not dolerate this distruction of human life as we have seen too many times.
He was a great man with a big heart. Watching his family on the news with their “stay strong” attitude is a testament to their uncles impact on their lives. Bless them all.
“Hate to say it, but it looks like its time to get that concealed weapons permit”
Oh sure. That’s going to be a great help when you are jumped from behind and they start beating on you. It’s the first thing they’d find when they go through your bag or kick your holster.
Maybe it’s time to start our own safety patrol. At least something in the mornings and evenings. Not vigilantes, but something like the Q patrol used to be on Broadway.
I’m not trying to downplay the crime—it certainly could have been solely because Mr. Vega was gay, but it is hardly the first brutal beating/robbery in this area. There was a teen brutally beaten by three young men near the CCLR station recently. His head was smashed on the sidewalk; he could just have easily died as well.
I know hate crimes happen and they are terrible—no matter what inspires the hate. I was just speculating that this could have been a mugging gone horribly wrong, or perhaps escalated because of the addition of hate. The point I was trying to make is that the general safety of all residents of the valley has decreased substantially in the last few years. Labeling it solely as a hate crime downplays the need for vigilance from all who walk our streets after dark. Right now, I don’t feel anyone is safe.
Here’s a bit more info on the attackers, from the Seattle Times article
“Vega was walking in the 4200 block of South Othello Street around 7:45 p.m. on Nov. 15 when he was attacked from behind by three young men, who robbed and beat him, according to a police report.
He lost consciousness and awoke nearly an hour later “with pain all over his face and chest,” the report says. Vega was able to walk home, where his roommates called 911.
Wincing in pain and disoriented, Vega told officers he’d been attacked by three African-American males, all around 18 years of age, according to the report. But he “could not provide any further description due to his injuries and pain level,” the report says.”
Condolences to Mr. Vega’s family and friends. SSC, Is there something we can do as a community? There are camera’s at the businesses around the “Sea and Weed”. Have they been reviewed? Can we get out flyers?
For all of you who don’t know, homophobia is alive and well in Rainier Valley among our youth. I hear it on the bus all of the time, and not just from the typical thugs I see. You know them.
I walked back and forth to the Othello station with my infant daughter yesterday, as I do frequently. Like Greener Grad, I didn’t see anything to identify where this murder took place. At the very least, it would help bring attention to it.
We live in a community where people are protecting these kids. There is silence around all of the crime.
Lots of suggestions about concealed weapons and community patrols. How about more f@cking cops? How about real community policing?
Why the hell isn’t there a beat cop patrolling Othello, Colombia City, and Rainier Beach from the downtown core on Rainier to the station and back again?
How many muggings, beatings, and homicides does it take?
While more cops would be great it boils down to the community really working with the police. This includes providing information to the police as well as calling out their own.
I’m sure that there is someone in the community who knows who these punks are. But for whatever reason they aren’t coming forward.
Beyond all the rhetoric, our community doesn’t work until there is mutual respect among everyone that is involved in it. Part of that mutual respect is not legitimizing thug behavior among your own.
Do you think this would happen in a community where the perps know that everyone they see knows who they are and wouldn’t hesitate to identify them to their family and police?
Someone somewhere knows something and should call in the anonymous tip line since this unprovoked killing was near the new Othello apt building, shopping center and light rail. Do any of the businesses have a video cam?
who ever killed danny vega he will haunt you until you get caught thats how it is in the filipino tradtion. hinde sha ma rest until mahanap nag sino nag mati sa kanya i promise you danny will haunt you till you killers get caught remember no one hears ur prayers at night
@musicanimal
I think I saw you today.
Green jacket, blue sweats, knit hat, big ass dog on Rainier?
This news is incredibly disheartening, even more so being an out woman living with her partner in 98118 and commuting via light rail. My heart goes out to Vega’s family and I commend them for speaking out about the attack.
@M: Time to carry a weapon? What a lousy solution. It may well be time to think @outside the box.
The mayor can hold all of the meetings he wishes but nothing is gonna change. If he lived in the Valley and was a small business gay owner and walks Othello in the daytime or evening hours (without his bike or protection), then maybe we will get the changes we deserve in South Seattle.
Tom T. — It’s not clear if this horrific crime was motivated by homophobia.
Within days of that crime, another man was beaten by teens with a baseball bat on Beacon Hill (no robbery): http://beaconhill.seattle.wa.us/2011/11/17/crime-notes-neighbor-reports-assault-by-laughing-bat-wielding-teenagers/
A friend of mine was once hospitalized after being brutally beaten by teens on Capitol Hill AFTER he’d handed over his wallet.
I’m not an expert, but I’ve heard often beating a stranger is part of gang initiation.
I hope the killers are caught, but it already pains me to think that if they’re minors, they’ll just spend a few weeks in juvie before going free, like the Tuba Man killers.
Sentenced to detention 36 / 72 weeks, I mean.
There’s a very good article in The Seattle Weekly about one of the Tuba Man killers and the juvenile criminal justice system in general. I recommend everyone read it to get a better background on some of the problems we have.
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