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Jian Hong Li, 39, was charged yesterday with the murder of Hideko Oyama, the 74-year-old manager of the Chetwood Hotel in the Toy District of downtown Los Angeles. After staying at the hotel for a month, Li allegedly killed Oyama with a meat cleaver in an attempted robbery on January 5th. Later that day, a tourist found her with a slash to her neck. Meanwhile, pieces of Oyama's life is coming into view after a press conference with her daughter was held. "She collected old bottles for recycling and used the dollars earned to help the homeless on skid row. She was so devoted to her job that she declined her daughter's offers for vacations in Hawaii. But the one pastime she couldn't resist was watching Los Angeles Lakers games," said the LA Times.
Adds Ed Fuentes at blogdowntown, quoting Oyama's daughter: "My mother worked to be a mentor, a friend, and a mother to these Japanese students and quasi-business people because she knew they didn't have anybody."
