Skip to content
  1. Home
  2. Local News

Preliminary hearing underway for man accused of killing Burnaby RCMP Const. Shaelyn Yang

A three-day inquiry in Vancouver provincial court will determine whether there is enough evidence to order Jongwon Ham to stand trial for Const. Shaelyn Yang's fatal stabbing at Burnaby's Broadview Park last October.
Cornelia Naylor
Cornelia Naylor

A preliminary inquiry is underway for the man accused of murdering Burnaby Mountie Const. Shaelyn Yang while she was on duty last October.

Jongwon Ham was charged with first-degree murder on Oct. 19, 2022, one day after Yang was fatally stabbed at Burnaby’s Broadview Park.

Over the next three days, the Crown will present its evidence to Vancouver provincial court Judge James Sutherland, and Ham’s lawyers will get a chance to cross-examine witnesses.

If Sutherland decides there is sufficient evidence, Ham will be ordered to stand trial in B.C. Supreme Court.

Ham has been in custody since Oct. 18, 2022.

At around 10:30 a.m. that day, Yang had accompanied a City of Burnaby parks employee on a call to Broadview Park and tried to speak with a man who was sheltering in a tent in the park, according to the Independent Investigations Office, which investigated the incident.

When Yang and the parks employee approached the tent, an altercation took place during which Ham was shot and Yang was stabbed.

The parks employee was physically unharmed during the incident, according to police, but Yang did not survive her injuries.

Thousands of first responders honoured her at a regimental funeral in Richmond on Nov. 2, 2022.

Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
Email [email protected]