As police announced a second arrest in the beating death of a 23-year-old woman outside a Santa Ana nightclub, an organ donor agency announced that the victim’s organs have already been used to help sustain the lives of five patients waiting for transplants.

Kim Pham was hit, knocked to the ground and stomped as she waiting in line outside a trendy Santa Ana restaurant and nightspot early Saturday and was declared brain dead the next day.

Following her wishes, she was kept on life-support until her organs were removed, according to One Legacy, a nonprofit organ and tissue recovery organization in Southern California.

“Kim Pham … saved five lives through the donation of her heart, kidneys, lungs, pancreas and liver to patients on the national organ transplant waiting list,” the group said.


Pham, who had registered with the Donate Life California Organ & Tissue Donor Registry through the California Department of Motor Vehicles, also donated tissues that could heal dozens of others, One Legacy said.

Some members of Pham’s family were unaware she was a registered organ donor until she was hospitalized.

“Words cannot describe the pain and devastation we feel from being separated from Kim so soon,” the family said in a statement. “But we understand God has bigger plans for her and will continue to watch over her.”

At a press conference Friday, police announced the arrest of a second woman in connection with Pham’s death, and said they are searching for a third woman.


Anh.do@latimes.com