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VANCOUVER — The family of British Columbia RCMP Const. Shaelyn Yang says they fear she’ll be “erased” from the legal record after the man accused of her killing was found unfit to stand trial.
Shiling Yang, the aunt of Burnaby RCMP Const. Shaelyn Yang, said in an email to The Canadian Press on Tuesday that court proceedings dealing with a suspect’s mental fitness don’t allow for victims to have a “formal role.”
“If a defendant is found ‘unfit’ and never recovers to a ‘fit’ status, the victim is effectively erased from the legal record,” she said. “The case stalls indefinitely, and the victim is silenced.”
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.
Ham may still 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.
The family released their victim impact statement to allow “the Canadian justice system and the public to hear our full plea and understand the profound gravity of our experience,” Shiling Yang said.
She said the “loophole” was acknowledged by prosecutors, and she points to a “profoundly imbalanced and tilted justice system.”
“I believe this severe oversight — which neglects the rights of victims — must be addressed by Canadian legal professionals and the public. I have learned that many other victims have suffered this same secondary trauma.”
The victim impact statement says the family has lost trust in the institutions Yang served after the suspect in her killing was deemed unfit for trial, while denouncing “systemic failure” they say puts front-line workers at risk.
It says a medical diagnosis is not a “substitute for moral accountability,” and Yang’s death has left them “irrevocably shattered.”
Yang’s family prepared the statement to present at Ham’s fitness hearing, which was released by the National Police Federation after the family was told it could not be part of that process.
“We do not ignore the predicaments of those who are suffering from mental health conditions,” the statement said. “However, compassion that is institutionally directed toward only one party creates a profoundly dangerous imbalance.”
“Where is the compassion for the protector and the family she left behind?”
The statement said 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.
National Police Federation President Brian Sauvé said in an interview Tuesday that Yang’s family members have expressed feeling “misled” about providing the court with a victim impact statement.
He said an accused being found unfit to stand trial can leave statements from victims “in limbo,” and exposes “a gap in Canada’s legal system and Canada’s justice system.”
“I think they felt betrayed by the system and almost muzzled by the system, so that their emotion and their grief would not be heard,” he said.
The federation sent a letter to federal and B.C. attorneys general last month, outlining concerns that victims’ voices are left unheard in the trial fitness proceedings.
“For the family of a murdered officer to be told that there is ‘no procedural space; for their voice and that their daughter, who paid the ultimate price in the service of this country, is a legal nonentity at this stage, is not acceptable or consistent with her RCMP colleagues’ or Canadians’ expectations,” the letter said.
The B.C. Ministry of Attorney General said in a statement that it has received the letter and agrees “on the importance on ensuring the voices of victims and their families are heard during the court process.”
“We are reviewing the federation’s recommendations and will be taking them under consideration including any potential gaps in legislation with our federal colleagues,” the ministry statement said.
It added that victims can submit impact statements to the BC Review Board.
Sauvé said the federation hasn’t received a reply to the letter, but he’s optimistic that the problem can be dealt with by both levels of government through legislation and other means.
He said fitness findings don’t stand forever and come up for regular review, but victim’s families can’t submit statements that stand on the record, and instead get “re-victimized” by the process.
The family said that to find an accused unfit for trial or not criminally responsible due to mental illness wrongfully “marginalizes the victim’s pursuit of justice.”
They said they released the statement fearing that Yang’s “sacrifice may never be officially recorded or represented within the legal structure she served.”
The statement said 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.”
“For our family, sharing Shaelyn’s story and the profound impact of her loss is incredibly important,” Shiling Yang said in the statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2026
Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press
