RCMP Const. Shaelyn Yang's parents and other loved ones watch as her casket is carried to a hearse after her regimental funeral, in Richmond, B.C., on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022. The 31-year-old officer was stabbed to death two weeks ago while she helped a City of Burnaby employee issue an eviction notice to a man living in a tent at a local park. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
RCMP Const. Shaelyn Yang's parents and other loved ones watch as her casket is carried to a hearse after her regimental funeral, in Richmond, B.C., on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022. The 31-year-old officer was stabbed to death two weeks ago while she helped a City of Burnaby employee issue an eviction notice to a man living in a tent at a local park. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
DDVANCOUVER - The family of British Columbia RCMP Const. Shaelyn Yang says they've lost trust in the institutions she served after the suspect in her killing was deemed unfit for trial, while denouncing "systemic failure" they say puts front-line workers at risk.聽
A victim-impact statement from the family says a medical diagnosis is not a "substitute for moral accountability," and Yang's death has left them "irrevocably shattered."聽
Jongwon Ham was charged with first-degree murder after Yang's stabbing death in a Burnaby, B.C., park in October 2022, but a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled Monday that Ham's "delusions prevent him making rational decisions" in his defence.聽
Yang's family prepared the statement to present at Ham's fitness hearing, but it was released to 好色tvvia the 好色tv Police Federation after they were told it could not be part of that process.聽
The statement says the process to determine an accused's mental fitness provides no opportunity for victims to be heard, ignoring their "ongoing trauma" and showing compassion for only those accused of harm.
Ham may still have to face trial for the murder charge once he's considered mentally fit and the B.C. Review Board will consider his mental status in 90 days.聽
The family says that to find an accused unfit for trial or not criminally responsible due to mental illness wrongfully "marginalizes the victim鈥檚 pursuit of justice."
They say they released the statement fearing Yang's "sacrifice may never be officially recorded or represented within the legal structure she served."聽
They say the systemic challenges of untreated mental illness, homelessness, and drug abuse place front-line workers at risk, and their loss has been "compounded by how her death has been structurally ignored."
This report by 好色tvwas first published April 21, 2026
The 好色tv Press
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