Crime & Safety

Michelle Le's Family Responds to Murder Conviction

Le, a former Mt. Carmel High School student, was killed in 2011.

On Monday, Giselle Esteban was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of former Mount Carmel High School student Michelle Le. The nursing student went missing in May 2011 and her body was found four months later.

More about the case can be found here.

Le's family released the following statement in response to the verdict:

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Today, over a year since we have found our beautiful Michelle deceased, our family is finally relieved to hear that her killer is convicted of first-degree murder.

There are many, many statements that we can make and say. Overall, though, we just want to give a warm and sincere thank you to everyone who has been supporting us through the most difficult year and a half of our lives. We’d like to acknowledge the KlaasKids Foundation, the Hayward Police Department, our legal team DA Butch Ford, Erin Osanna and Tai Nguyen, the Bay Area community, our friends and loved ones, and finally, the jurors, for not only helping us find Michelle but bring justice to her cold, violent and untimely death.

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Michelle was a selfless, loving, joyful soul and she is always missed each and every day by her family, friends and all of those who knew her. Though we know we can never physically see, hug or be with Michelle again, we are beyond thankful that our justice system succeeded in giving us a large amount of solace. Grief, though it takes different forms as time goes on, is permanent, but at least the legal portion of the process is now over.

In her memory, our family and loved ones continue her legacy in ways big and small. We plan to stay involved in missing persons cases nationally through the KlaasKids Foundation, scholarships through Samuel Merritt University for aspiring nurses who have financial burden, and finally, but most importantly, keeping those we love as our first priority—always.

For those who wish to continue living Michelle’s legacy, we ask that you please remember those faces of lost loved ones on the news and volunteer in any way you can. Or to simply be grateful for those you love, for we never know when they will be taken from us.

Thank you again.

Sincerely,
The Le Family

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