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OAKLAND — Some who knew Shuo Zeng wore purple, a color he wore in many photos, while hundreds of others gathered Sunday, standing silently to honor him and listen to shared memories of a man remembered for his kind-hearted gestures, his devotion to family and his prowess as a research scientist.
I'm thankful for the friendship I shared with Shuo Zeng. #rip #friendsofshuo pic.twitter.com/uuVK8yGZxr
— Peter Tseng (@petertseng) January 5, 2020
Zeng was killed on his birthday Tuesday morning after chasing a thief who stole his laptop while he sat at a Starbucks not far from his apartment in Oakland’s Montclair District.
Michelle Munson, the co-founder and former CEO of Aspera, the Emeryville company where Zeng had worked as an engineer and scientist for four years, spoke movingly of personally recruiting her fellow Kansas State University physics graduate to come to the Bay Area.
“I would like to speak to the honor and achievement of his life, and to reassure his parents that he was everything we ever wanted him to be,” Munson said. “He was a person who was kind and respected by everyone who knew him and worked with him. He was a dear friend of many of us still to this day, and he made a habit of being honorable in every part of his life … .”
In an interview earlier Sunday with the Bay Area News Group, Zeng’s roommate and friend for the last two and half years, Colin Mizuki, said he thought he was ” partly still in shock.”
He and Zeng often went to coffee shops together to work or study, including the Starbucks where Zeng was robbed, he said.
“It’s hard for me to come back to the apartment, and Shuo’s room is right across from mine, and see that it’s empty. That’s still really hard to experience and think about,” Mizuki said.
Mizuki said Zeng was a curious soul, who always seemed to have multiple projects and hobbies in the works, such as trying his hand at martial arts including Krav Maga and kung fu.
“He wanted to have fun, and wanted to learn something new at the same time,” Mizuki said. “He was always very studious.”
At the vigil, Serban Simu, who said his desk was right next to Zeng’s at Aspera, spoke to him aloud.
“I never got to tell you how much I respect your life and your career. I never got to tell you this, because we just don’t say this to friends… . Thank you for being such a friend.”
The coffee shop that was the scene of the laptop theft has in recent days had its windows covered with small notes mourning Zeng by those who did and didn’t know him and those lamenting any loss of life.
Sue Graham, who started the impromptu memorial, praised the community outpouring and shared plans to gather the notes and share them with Zeng’s family.
“I could have never imagined so many people who just like me know anything about this young man, and felt the same way,” Graham said. “It could have been my son, my friend, my neighbor. It could have been anybody, but unfortunately with respect to the leadership in Oakland, we the taxpayers continue to be let down.”
Prosecutors on Friday charged Javon Lee, 21, and Byron Reed, 22, both of San Francisco, in Zeng’s death. Investigators have said they are looking for a third suspect.
Lee is suspected of being one of two men who snatched the laptop. Reed is accused of driving the getaway car that struck Zeng, who was found on the pavement in the 6100 block of Antioch Street around the corner from the coffee shop.
At Sunday’s vigil, District 4 Councilmember Sheng Thao called for the first of several moments of silence in Zeng’s honor before speaking about efforts to increase safety in the city.
“I know there’s so much more that we need to do collectively together as a community, and it’s unfortunate that it took this tragic event to bring it all together to really speak about what changes need to happen,” Thao said. “We do know that the resources we have here in Oakland, we are stretched thin, but we need to do more, because one life lost is one too many.”
Staff writers Joseph Geha and Aldo Toledo contributed to this report.
