The Le family’s loved ones dedicate their headstone months after East Lansdowne shooting and fire
Sunday would’ve been Xuong Le’s 41st birthday. And it was fitting that the diehard Eagles fan’s grave site was dedicated almost simultaneously as his favorite team played in South Philly.
The drink in Justin McLaughlin’s plastic cup was bittersweet Sunday afternoon. And not just because of the cocktail’s concoction of juice and liquor, a secret formula created by his late sister Britni.
McLaughlin raised and drained the cup as he stood surrounded by his friends and family in Fernwood Cemetery, a few blocks from Lewis Avenue in East Lansdowne, where Britni, her husband, Xuong Le, and their three children were killed February by Xuong’s brother, Canh.
The toast took place behind a headstone donated to the family by the Lee Memorial Co., and moments later the marker was unveiled. Next to their names, a recent family photo of the five, dressed up and smiling, is etched into marble. A happy moment, now frozen forever in time.
» READ MORE: After the tragedy in East Lansdowne, the Le family’s loved ones find solace in memories
Sunday would have been Xuong Le’s 41st birthday. And it was fitting, McLaughlin said, that the diehard Eagles fan’s grave site was dedicated almost simultaneously as his favorite team kicked off their game against the Cleveland Browns about seven miles away in South Philly.
“This whole community was really hurt by this, and this headstone is a way to help with that healing process,” McLaughlin said. “It’s a place people can come and see them, continue the grieving process, find peace, and continue to honor them.”
Britni McLaughlin Le, 36, lived with her husband and their children — Natayla, 17, Nakayla, 14, and Xavier, 10 — in the home on Lewis Avenue where Xuong grew up. The two had been married for 17 years, their love kindled at a Perkins in Drexel Hill, where McLaughlin Le was a server and Le worked the line.
The couple shared their home with Le’s older brother and his parents, Chin and Huong. On Feb. 7, for reasons that investigators say will never be fully understood, Canh Le gunned down his brother and his family, barricaded himself inside the home, and set it on fire. His elderly parents were able to escape and call 911.
Le shot at officers who arrived to investigate, wounding East Lansdowne Police Officer John Meehan and Lansdowne Police Officer David Schiazza. Le’s gunfire prevented rescue crews from intervening until the home was fully engulfed, and it was destroyed in the blaze.
Chin and Huong Le attended Sunday’s ceremony with their other son, Phuong. They asked for privacy as they mourned.
East Lansdowne Mayor Majovie Bland said in the days after the fire that the community had been ripped apart by the tragedy, and that the healing process would be long.
He repeated those words Sunday, standing a few feet from the Le family’s new headstone.
“Healing is a process, and this is one step, one additional step, in that process,” Bland said. “Healing takes time, and you can’t put an end date on it.”
Bland said the Les’ deaths had touched everyone in their small, tight-knit community. The loss, he said, felt personal.
And in a twist of fate, their final resting place was personal to him: His brother was buried a year ago Sunday just a few feet from the Le family’s plot in Fernwood.
“Now when I visit him, I can see the Les,” he said. “This brings a smile to my face before tears.”