San Francisco’s Human Rights Commission last week honored Wha Sook “Suzy” Kim, who was slain in April during a robbery at her Visitacion Valley grocery store.

Her sister, Kwisook Choi, spoke to the commissioners on behalf of the family.

“I’m sure Suzy and her family will appreciate this,” she said. “This will help to reduce crimes that happened to my sister. A lot of minority men and women had crimes like this. Many families didn’t [get] recognized. I thank the commission.”

Absent from the commemoration, however, was Kim’s husband, Yong Bong Kim. Commissioner Youn-Cha Shin Chey explained at the meeting that she spoke to the 53-year-old Korean immigrant by phone and reported that “he is extremely disappointed that the murderer was not caught. He is planning to buy a gun and would like to buy a bullet-proof vest because he knows it’s ‘you kill or be killed.’ ”

Since 1994, there have been 432 homicides in San Francisco. Including Kim, four victims were merchants; however, none of the perpetrators have been caught.

Lt. David Robinson, who is in charge of homicide for the San Francisco Police Department, told the commission that police are pursuing “strong leads” in the case.

“We’re charged with the huge responsibility of not only identifying the person, but also proceeding with the proper due process conclusion,” Robinson told the commissioners. “Emotionally, we’d like to say, ‘Let’s put this guy in jail because we have a good idea that they’re responsible.’ We have to divorce ourselves from that and actually put them in jail with all the evidence possible.”

On April 3, a ski-masked robber shot and killed Kim at her grocery store, KC Market, which stands at the corner of Wilde and Rutland. The area has long been plagued by petty drug dealing and other crime.

The murder shocked and saddened both Visitacion Valley and Korean American communities. Three days after Kim’s death, a candlelight vigil attended by Mayor Willie Brown was held in her honor. And this week, students at Eldorado Elementary School unveiled a mural they made, which includes a drawing of Suzy Kim, along with depictions of other inspirational women, including Mother Teresa, Indira Gandhi, and Maya Angelou. Many of the youngsters had shopped at KC Market and remembered Kim as a gentle woman who handed out free treats.

“This resolution says to the community that Suzy Kim was an outstanding role model for immigrants attempting to succeed in America, and it tells Kim’s family how sorry we are for the loss of such a noble and loving person,” said Human Rights Commission Executive Director Marivic Bamba.

Chey told commissioners that since his wife’s death, Kim has lost much of the business they built during “the last 20 years as immigrants in this land of opportunity. He lost all their customers. They don’t want to come to a store where there was a crime,” Chey said. She asked her colleagues whether there were any funds available to help victims.

“This is just like any other disaster,” Chey said. “We have emergency funds available if your home is blown up by wind. We have funds for those victims. How about one for those killed by violent crime?”

According to Robinson, money may be made available through the District Attorney’s Victims of Violent Crime office. The lieutenant reported that police provide information about the program when they investigate a crime and that the information is given in different languages.

However, it was unclear whether the Kims were aware of the program. The commissioners agreed that the matter needs to be looked into further, saying there may have been language or cultural barriers that prevented the information from being relayed.

Chey said she hopes that the slaying of Kim, a 21-year immigrant who left behind two children, will “awaken us. I feel one individual’s death is as important as any mass killing, like what happened in Colorado,” she said.

“Any individual victims have to be taken care by society. Everyone should feel responsible for what happens in this society.”