Santa Barbara native and UCSB graduate Alexandra Tang, 24, was stabbed to death in a Laguna Hills home Saturday, and her boyfriend, Derek Pinski, 24, was arrested the next day in Arizona and will be charged with her murder.
Alexandra Tang
Tang graduated last year with a degree in psychology. The couple met at UCSB, and Pinski is a resident of Laguna Hills in Orange County. According to the Orange County Sheriff's Department, deputies were dispatched to a residence in the 22000 block of Caminito Tasquillo at around 11 a.m. and found the homeowner performing CPR on Tang. Paramedics took over first aid, but she was declared dead at the scene. No other details surrounding the incident, including a possible motive, have been released.
Pinski was immediately named a person of interest in the homicide, and the next day detectives tracked him to Mesa, Arizona, where he was taken into custody. He'll soon be extradited back to Orange County and be charged with murder, said an Orange County Sheriff's spokesperson.
Courtesy
Derek Pinksi
Candice Tang Nyholt, Alexandra's older sister and a senior account executive with SurfMedia Communications in Santa Barbara, said Alexandra had recently secured a job working with autistic children in South Orange County. Part of a large, close-knit family, the daughter of Santa Barbara dentist Alexander Tang, and one of a dozen grandchildren, she enjoyed going to the beach, hiking, playing tennis, and spending time with friends. “Alexandra also loved to sing, though she was often too shy to do it in public,” Candice said.
“She's my baby sister; I'm seven years older than her,” she went on. “We were all really excited about her future, about her making a difference in the world. She did have a big heart, and maybe she was blinded by love. She always wanted to be there for whoever needed help.”
Candice said Alexandra and Pinski started dating just over a year ago and celebrated their anniversary last month. She said the family met Pinski a number of times and described him as quiet, often keeping to himself. There were no indications that he could be aggressive or violent, she said. “I hate to say it, but I wish there were signs,” Candice explained.
Pinski was into organic foods and living an overall healthy lifestyle, Candice went on, and he had worked at a Whole Foods in Orange County until he was recently let go. Also a psychology major, Pinski graduated the same time as Alexandra. The two had broken up a month ago and Alexandra moved back to Santa Barbara, but they soon after got back together. Pinski's parents are divorced, and his father lives in Arizona.
“Sandra was such a spirited girl,” said the Tang Family in a prepared statement. “She was full of life and love. She had an exciting future ahead of her, and no words can fully express how much she’ll be missed by all.” The family has set up a memorial Facebook page, which can be viewed here.
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Comments
Yet another stabbing death. Psychopaths will kill any way they can. Instead of banning guns, asking why there is so much of this behavior and being willing to face some uncomfortable truths may reduce the number of these tragedies.
billclausen (anonymous profile)
September 4, 2012 at 11:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I find it hard to believe that billc can push his willfully ignorant agenda in an article about one family's tragic loss of their daughter. It is beyond heartless; it is abusive.
The uncomfortable truth is that 50% of murder victims are killed by someone they know. When the murderer and the victim are that closely associated, the murderer can easily use any number of weapons to kill their victim including something as innocent as eye drops.
However, that has nothing to do with a psychopath killing numerous people at random or almost random. In those cases a gun and especially an automatic weapon is the deadly tool that is almost exclusively used. I don't understand how billc can purposefully ignore that fact.
TrailHacker (anonymous profile)
September 5, 2012 at 6:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
A psychopath or sociopath are everyday people and anyone can become one or act on ones impulses. It's like a clip in the Adams Family Movie where Mortica asks Wednesday what she is going as for Halloween and she answers, "A Psycho, cause they look like everybody else"; her response is very true and very scary. Both people were psychology majors but understanding others one must understand themselves, Mr. Pinkski didn't understand himself if he truely is guilty of this crime.
My heart goes out too the family of the Victim.
dou4now (anonymous profile)
September 5, 2012 at 10:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I found zero reason to trash bc or his opinion and he has consistently shown himself to be compassionate and logical in his posts.
This is a wonderful SB family that has just experienced the worst imaginable trauma. One of my kids went to school with her and we are personally mourning this horrible event. I can only hope that the family can find the strength to get by.
italiansurg (anonymous profile)
September 5, 2012 at 1:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
@Trailhacker: OK, so you're out to make me look heartless, or you can't see the message, so I'll decode it for you.
This man might have been mentally unbalanced from the time he was born, he might have suffered an illness or a head injury that knocked him off his moral compass.
First of all, to say I'm "willfully ignorant" is a contradiction in terms; either I'm a liar, or I'm clueless, but one can't be both within the context of one thing.
I also bring up the the gun prohibition issue because many believe that if we get rid of guns, we'll curb the major impacts of violent crime, but this crime, as well as the endless gang-related stabbings, muggings, and beatings, which have escalated to the point where the city of Santa Barbara feels the need to hire a gang czar, are also evidence of a dangerous trend.
As for 50% of murders being from people the victims know, that doesn't address my point.
Regardless of what social engineers would have you believe, when kids grow up in unstructured, isolated situations without a steady family support system, the odds of "acting out" (the term du jour) is far greater. I'm merely addressing a trend I've seen throughout my lifetime.
My pointing out what I did is not "abusive", it is simply presenting a point of view that makes you uncomfortable.
billclausen (anonymous profile)
September 6, 2012 at 4:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
BillC, Trailhacker (and I!) can see exactly what you were saying. We don't need you to break it down for us.
You're grandstanding on a story about a 24 year old woman whose life was brutally taken for reasons we will probably never understand.
Trying to turn around your own unsavory behavior as being an uncomfortable viewpoint isn't going to fly. What you did was wrong. You should just stop talking now and take it to a thread that is more suited to this kind of thing.
Native1 (anonymous profile)
September 6, 2012 at 12:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Agreed. This is certainly not the proper context.
BillClausen should show contrition rather than lecture as a True Believer.
My heart-felt condolences to the family and friends of Alexandra Tang, and I hope justice will be served.
Chester_Arthur_Burnett (anonymous profile)
September 6, 2012 at 2:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
billclausen (anonymous profile)
September 6, 2012 at 4:05 p.m.
Bill,
I can't even imagine that anyone would say what you said within earshot of the family of the victim (that goes for you too @dou4now). What if the family were to read your comments? How do you think your words would make them feel?
Appropriate responses to reports of death include, "I am saddened by the loss of life", "my condolences to friends and family of the victim", etc. Throwing around words like, "psychopath" and bringing up gun control or quoting lines from The Adams Family is inappropriate and disrespectful.
Kingprawn (anonymous profile)
September 7, 2012 at 12:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
billclausen (anonymous profile)
September 7, 2012 at 3:55 p.m.