Fund Collects Assistance for Annette Aoki, Mother of Ali Syed's First Presumed Victim

A reader wondered if an online page he found to donate to Annette Aoki--the mother of Ali Syed's presumed first murder victim in Ladera Ranch, Courtney Aoki--was legitimate, especially in light of the phony money-collecting sites that sprang up after the Sandy Hook tragedy.

So the Weekly asked the Orange County Sheriff's Department if it knew of a safe place to give in the 20-year-old Buena Park woman's memory, and that agency's Homicide Victims Services office responded with the same online page the reader had found.

This is it:

http://www.giveforward.com/aokifund

As of Wednesday afternoon, the page organized by San Clemente's Liz McQueen showed $556 in donations to help Annette Aoki "get through this difficult time."

Media reports reveal the slain woman's mother was experiencing financial difficulties, including the possible loss of an apartment she was raising another daughter in, before Courtney's body was found.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department received a call from 20-year-old Syed's parents at the condo at 5 Red Leaf Lane around 4:45 a.m. Feb. 19 that the body of a woman they did not know was there, but their son was not. He was believed to have driven off in the family SUV. Syed would be blamed for killing two men in Tustin and Santa Ana and firing random rounds on Orange County freeways before taking his own life later that morning in Villa Park. 

See also:

4 Dead in A.M. Shooting Spree
Ali Syed Left Suicide Note in Ladera Ranch Home Indicating Rampage Was Planned
Courtney Aoki, a.k.a Kitty Kitanna, Danced at a Weekly Best of 2012 Spot and was Engaged and Pregnant--But Was the Slain Woman an Escort?
Nick Contopoulos, OCC Professor, Had Ali Syed Point Shotgun at Him and Lived to Tell About It
Todd Spitzer Postpones Violence Forum in Wake of Chris Dorner and Ali Syed Murders

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